Sick Day
by Bumblebee'sGuardian
Summary: When Barry comes down with a bad cold, he is forced to take a few days off both his jobs in order to recover. Much to his annoyance, Captain Cold takes the Flash's absence as an opportunity to strike out at Detective West who he knows is part of Team Flash. When Cold discovers a sick Barry instead at the West house, things get interesting… Set before Out of Time. Hurt!Barry
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This story just smacked me in the face as I sat down at work and I had to get it down before it slipped out the window. Beginning is short. Let me know what you guys think! Enjoy!**_

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* * *

From the moment Barry woke up to the dull blare of his alarm clock, he knew that today was going to be absolutely dreadful. After fighting a metahuman who could control water the previous night in subzero temperatures, he had barely had the energy to deice himself via a hot shower before passing out in his bed. Now his head was throbbing and his nose felt like it had been stuffed with lead. He stumbled out of bed, throwing on some clothes, and heading down to the kitchen where Joe was getting a pot of coffee going. He attempted to use his speed to get over to the refrigerator to make himself some eggs only to find himself lacking any energy to get there.

Joe looked at his foster son strangely as the normally speedy kitchen bandit trudged wearily across the kitchen. "Everything all right, Barry?"

"Fine." Barry startled himself as his voice came out in a kind of rasp. He coughed, trying to clear his throat. Unfortunately, he only seemed to make things worse as he was suddenly hit by a cough attack which tore at both his throat and lungs.

Joe immediately sat Barry down and got him some water which the speedster drank readily once the coughing subsided. "Sounds like you caught something." Joe put a hand to Barry's forehead. "Hang on a second, Bear."

Barry watched Joe leave only for his foster father to return a minute later with a thermometer. Barry took it from him, sticking it in his mouth. To his relief, the alarm only went off at 98.4 °F.

"No fever. That's a good sign," said Joe, "If it is a cold through, you're better off staying home for the day and sleeping it off rather than pushing yourself too far."

"But Captain Singh-" Barry doubled over in another fit of coughs much to his annoyance.

"I'll tell him you're sick. If he doesn't believe me, he can come right on over here if he has to. I'm pretty sure he'll believe it when he sees you in this state." Joe guided Barry over to the living room couch, which Barry immediately lay down on, his head propped up on the surprisingly comfortable throw pillow. Joe took a blanket from one of the armchairs and covered Barry with it. "And I'll call STAR Labs and let them know you're taking a day or so off to recover. I'm sure everyone will understand. You've done a hell of a good job. You deserve a day off every once and a while."

Barry let out a scarce nod, barely registering Joe leaving him and returning once again, this time with some cough syrup. "Joe, you don't have to…"

"You're still my kid, Bear. You may be all grown up now, but that doesn't mean I still can't take care of you when you're sick." Joe handed Barry the cough syrup and a glass of water, both of which Barry drank begrudgingly. "DO you want me to stay here?"

"No," rasped Barry, "I'll be fine." He buried his face into the throw pillow. "Thanks, Joe."

"Anytime, Barry." Joe set another glass of water down just within Barry's reach as well as Barry's cell phone, a box of tissues, and a small garbage can. Barry barely registered any of this, much less Joe putting another blanket over him before saying good-bye and stepping out the door. Barry was deeply asleep within moments of the door slamming shut.

* * *

Snart watched as Detective West stepped into his car and drove away from his house. As far as he could tell, the Detective would not be back for some time and from what he had seen, the man's children had moved out a long time ago. "Mick. Time to go. The sooner we get this set up, the less chance we have of the Detective finding us before we have everything set up."

A snore answered and Snart whirled around to the back of the van where Mick lay snoring up a storm. The cold-hearted criminal sighed. Of course, Mick would be asleep. He'd had the night watch after all and only just been relieved by Snart an hour ago. There was no way he'd be getting up anytime soon much less be in a cooperative mood if he was roused.

Snart quickly scribbled down a note for his pyromaniac of a partner and stuck it next to the man's weapon. He could handle this on his own for now. What problems would he have to face with an empty house?

Snart stepped out of the van, pulling up his parka as he glanced around. Not a single sign of life on the street. None of the neighbors were home, this much he knew. Most left for work around 5:30 in the morning while the detective left around 6 in the morning for his 0700 shift.

Snart made his way carefully up to the front door of the house, quietly picking the lock with practiced ease. For being a cop, the West house had surprisingly lax security. Snart popped the door open finally and it swung inwards with a shrill squeak of the hinges. He stepped into the house, freezing as he swung the door shut behind him. There on the couch, looking up at him with drowsy, but immediately alarmed eyes, was Barry Allen, Detective West's foster child. Just great…

* * *

Barry woke slightly at the sound of the doorknob rattling. He slowly roused completely, turning to face the door as it swung open with a loud creak of the hinges, expecting to see Joe enter having forgotten his coffee or something. Nothing could have prepared him for Leonard Snart AKA Captain Cold entering the house and freezing at the sight of Barry as the door shut behind him. As if his crappy day couldn't get any worse…


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: Lots of Barry whump/hurt!Barry in this chapter, people. This is my first attempt at this type (whump?) of a chapter in any story so please bear with me if it's a bit meh. You have been warned. In any case, thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and favorited this story. Please feel free to review or PM me with feedback! I appreciate constructive criticism! _****_I hope you enjoy this next chapter!_**

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* * *

Snart reacted on instinct. As soon as he saw the kid reach for the phone, he lunged forward and pulled out his gun, pressing it to the kid's head and snatching the phone away. "I don't think so, Mr. Allen."

Barry Allen turned to face him, still seated on the couch. "What do you want, Snart?" The kid's voice was raspy and his eyes were clearly glazed with illness, but there was an undeniably bold tone to the kid's voice and a fierce glint to his gaze. Somehow, Snart found himself liking the kid already.

"The Flash." There was a flicker of something imperceptible in the boy's eye, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. Was it surprise? Apprehension? "Detective West I hear is a big support of him. Thought I'd pay him a visit."

"Bad timing then," said Barry, "He just left for work. You might want to try him there."

Snart let a small smirk of amusement flicker across his face at the kid's bravery. "I know. That's why I'm here now. Though that doesn't explain why you're here."

"I live here," retorted the kid before suddenly turning away from Snart breaking down into a coughing fit. When he recovered, he turned back. "Besides, haven't you ever heard of a sick day?"

"Not in my business." Snart pocketed the kid's cell phone and picked up the bottle of cough medicine. Non-drowsy. Just his luck.

"So what are you doing here?" said Barry flatly.

"Planning a surprise for Detective West when he gets home from work." The kid's eyes narrowed and his hands silently clenched into fists. "You're aware of his partnership with the Flash?"

"Of course. I have a few friends at STAR Labs, one of which you kidnapped and tried to kill," said Barry, practically spitting out the words with disgust.

Snart scrutinized Barry. He remembered reading an article about STAR Labs treating the kid while he was is a nine-month coma after being struck by lightning during the particle accelerator incident. "Struck by lightning, right? Must have been a Hell of a jumpstart."

The kid rolled his eyes. "You have no idea." He coughed again, earning a small measure of sympathy from Snart. Snart lowered his gun to his side. The clearly sick kid wasn't much of a threat. At least, he hadn't proven to be one yet.

"So if you know Dr. Snow as well as Detective West," said Snart, "That must mean you know the Flash as well…" He looked the kid up and down. "I don't see you as part of his team like the rest of them. You're not a doctor or a physicist or an engineer much less a cop."

"I'm smarter than a look," retorted Barry, "Now what do you want with Joe?"

"Information," said Snart, "Plain and simple. He knows the Flash, which means he knows who he is. I want to be looped in."

"So what? You were planning on setting up a trap here for Joe and then interrogating him about the identity of the Flash?" The kid let out a choked laugh. "That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard. Joe wouldn't give up the Flash if his life depended on it."

"What about your life?" Snart casually brought his gun back up to aim at the kid whose eyes narrowed into a fierce glare. Snart glanced at one of the photos on the wall of both Barry and Iris West. "Or the life of his daughter, Iris?"

"If you even touch her, I swear I'll kill you, Snart." The kid's eyes bore into Snart, which only caused the criminal to grin at the kid's bravado.

"Cute, kid, but you don't look like the type who would carry out that kind of threat. I don't think you could. You have morals. I only have rules to live by." Snart looked at the photo again. "Maybe I should pay her a visit then? She works for Picture News, right-?"

The kid moved faster than Snart had anticipated. Snart's gun was nearly twisted from his grip by the kid who quickly slammed his fist into Snart's face once Snart failed to let go of the gun. Snart staggered back from the hit, and the gun clattered to the floor, sliding across the room and away from them. The kid's struck out again, only this time Snart was ready for it, blocking it before throwing one of his own which the kid managed to dodge and land another hit, this time to Snart's abdomen. Ill or not, the kid's punches packed a lot of power.

Snart staggered back again, slamming into the front door. He turned to the kid, glaring as he sized the kid up. He was lanky and tall, but his stance told Snart that not only had he been trained to fight, but that he'd been trained by someone with a great deal of skill. However, the kid was clearly winded, and his stance held slightly loose. Whatever illness he had was sapping his strength. Bad for the kid. Good for himself. "You're full of surprises, Mr. Allen. I wasn't expecting that."

"I told you," said Barry through gasps of air, "Don't. Touch. Iris."

"I think I will now that you're putting up so much of a fight over her. If she's this important to you, I can imagine how much she means to her father."

The kid immediately attacked and Snart went on the defensive, letting the kid think he had the upper hand. Snart allowed the kid to get in one more hit to his ribs before making his move, grabbing the kid by the arm and throwing him to the ground hard. Snart was immediately on top of him, twisting the kid's arms behind his back as Snart dug one of his knees into the kid's back. The kid tried to roll free, struggling with a strange intensity. Snart however had him pinned without a chance to break free. His struggles eventually weakened and stopped all together.

Snart leaned slightly to bring his mouth to Barry's ear, allowing his knee to dig deeper into the kid's back and elicit a gasp of pain from between the kid's clenched teeth. "That was not a smart move, Barry. I expected better from a friend of the Flash." Snart twisted one arm just a little more for effect, clamping a hand over the kid's mouth as he started to scream, muffling the yell. "Enough. Now, will you behave?"

The kid glared at Snart, but nodded, his eyes watering from the pain. For such a brave kid, he was still just that: a kid. He had his limits just like anyone else.

"Good." Snart glanced at the kid one more time before he gave his arm one final twist, hearing a distinct pop and a loud, yet muffled scream as Snart dislocated the kid's shoulder. Snart waited until the kid stopped screaming, feeling tears fall from the kid's eyes and hit his hand on the way down. "That's just a reminder. Try anything stupid again and I will do more than dislocate your shoulder."

Snart removed his hand from the kid's mouth as he released his grip on the kid's arms, allowing the kid to let out a quiet sob of pain as he clutched at his injured shoulder. The kid glared up at him, but the fire they held was now muddled by the pain and fear in the kid's eyes. Good. With any luck, the kid wouldn't try anything again. Just to be safe though…

"Get up." When the kid failed to move, Snart dragged him to his feet and guided him into the kitchen, sitting him down forcefully into one of the kitchen chairs. He pulled out a roll of electrical wire from one of his parka's many pockets. He quickly bound the kid's wrists in front of him and secured his legs as well, making sure the electrical wire was just tight enough to prevent the kid from slipping free. "That should do it."

The kid didn't make a sound, his eyes still dulled with pain, especially as he suddenly went into a coughing fit and his whole body spasmed from both the fit and the pain that must have been coursing through him from the dislocated shoulder every time it moved.

Snart smirked and sat himself down in the chair across from the kid. "Now we can handle this one of two ways. You can continue to be a problem and I will continue to hurt you for every inconvenience you cause. Or, you can cooperate and I might even reset your shoulder if you manage to behave for long enough." The kid didn't respond, looking down at the table. "The silent treatment's going to get you into the first option."

The kid swallowed and finally looked up at Snart, his eyes regaining some of their fire. "Fine. I'll cooperate. But if you even touch a hair on Iris or Joe's head, I swear, I will kill you."

"Very well. Deal. Glad we could come to some sort of agreement." Snart stood. "But now that we're done with this chat for the time being, I'm going to continue doing what I came to do. You are going to stay right there and not say another word until I tell you to, understood?"

The kid nodded, rolling his eyes at Snart before doubling over in a coughing fit again. Snart sighed. This was not in the plan.

* * *

Joe arrived at the police station ten minutes before his shift started and headed to the Captain's office immediately, knocking on the open door. "Captain?"

The Captain glanced up at him from his paper work. "Joe. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Joe sighed. "Barry won't be coming in today. He's managed to get himself one hell of a cold."

The Captain raised an eyebrow. "Sick? Are you sure?"

"Sure as I can be," said Joe, "I haven't seen him this sick since he had the flu in middle school."

The Captain shook his head. "Joe, if you're covering for him…"

"I'm not," said Joe honestly, "I'd say you could call him to check if you wanted, but I had just gotten him to go back to sleep before I left today. He looked pretty wiped out."

The Captain hesitated, glancing at the phone pensively. "I'll call in a couple of hours. Give him the chance to rest or whatever before I talk to him."

"Thank you, Captain." The Captain merely nodded, waving him off. Joe headed to his desk and quickly plopped down in his chair. Eddie was already at his desk, filling out reports. "No Barry today. Kid came down with a nasty cold."

"Yuck. He must have caught whatever's been going around at the gym. Sanchez is still out sick from it."

"I hope not," said Joe, "It's no fun being sick."

"You're telling me," said Eddie, "Do you want to take the day off?"

"No. Barry's just going to sleep it off today. I might call it early today though if you don't mind."

"Not at all. He's still your kid. I completely understand." Eddie smiled at Joe.

"Thanks." Joe felt a slight pang in his chest. As much as he knew that he wished Barry and Iris would be together, part of him couldn't help but wish for Eddie as a son in law. Yes, he was young and still a little bit carefree and reckless at times, but Eddie was a good man and he loved Iris just as much as Barry or himself.

"West! Thawne!" The dispatcher's voice jolted Joe out of his train of thought. "We have a robbery homicide on 52nd Street! You're up."

Joe threw on his jacket as Eddie did the same. "Ready, partner?"

"Right behind you." Joe caught the keys to their car as Eddie tossed them to him. Time to get to work.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: HAHA! Finally got this sucker done! Been like pulling teeth to finish this chapter off, but I finally got it done. Thank you so much to all the people who have been reading this story and I apologize for it taking so long to get another chapter out. Thanks also to everyone who had reviewed, favorited and followed this story. I totally posted this story on a whim and I'm really pleased that a lot of people like it. Anyhow, here's chapter 3! Enjoy!**_

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* * *

Barry watched Snart's every move through the haze of pain and sickness that was clouding his vision. The man had started by disconnecting the landline before moving onto securing the rest of the house, including placing silent alarms on the back and garage doors. He even hid the knives, making sure that even if Barry somehow managed move from his chair that he had no ready way to get free. As much as Barry hated to admit it, Snart was good. Really, really good. Nevertheless, he was also an asshole who unwittingly had the Flash at his mercy. If Barry slipped up in anyway and Snart found out the truth, he was as good as dead.

Barry was jerked from his thoughts by Snart plopping himself down in the chair across from him again. He opened his mouth to make a comment, but refrained upon a glance from Snart. As logical as Snart could be, he also could be quite a sadist. Still feeling the pain shrieking from his shoulder, Barry decided it was probably best to avoid Snart's sadistic side for as long as he could.

"Nice to see that you're good at following instructions," commented Snart, "Maybe you can answer a few questions for me then. Starting with how some small time CSI manages to work with the Flash." Barry didn't reply. "Oh, that's right. I haven't said you could talk again, have I?" Barry merely shot the criminal a look of annoyance. "Fine. You can talk again."

Barry thought quickly. He needed a plausible story. "I had just woken up from my coma around the time the Flash began appearing. I was still being taken care of by STAR Labs when he came to them and asked them for help fighting others like him."

"Others?" Snart leaned forward in his chair, clearly intrigued. "There are more people with abilities?"

"They're called metahumans," said Barry, "And there's a lot more than you think."

"Elaborate."

Barry shifted uncomfortably, wincing as his shoulder danced with pain. "I'm not sure I should…"

Snart pointed his weapon at Barry's kneecaps suggestively. "I think you'll find a way to manage."

Barry stiffened and took in a shaky breath. Talk now, fight later seemed to be the better option for him for the time being. "Remember the ATM robberies where the ATMs were pulled right out of the wall?"

Snart nodded. "I heard about them."

"There was this guy named Tony Woodward. He fell into a vat of molten steel on the night of the particle accelerator explosion and somehow became able to turn his skin into solid steel. He used this ability to start stealing the ATMs out of the wall. The Flash put a stop to him." Barry relaxed slightly as Snart stopped aiming his weapon at Barry's knees.

"Who else?" said Snart coldly.

"Kyle Nimbus," said Barry quickly, "He was a hitman for the Darbinyan crime family."

"I remember him," said Snart, "He was executed, right?"

"Sort of. He was being executed when the particle accelerator exploded. He actually became able to turn into hydrogen cyanide, the gas they were using to execute him. Actually, it's a mix between the hydrogen cyanide and a sedative which-"

"I got the picture, kid," interrupted Snart with a grimace.

"Right," said Barry slowly, "Well, so Nimbus went and took out the Darbinyan crime family for ratting on him and then the trial judge for sentencing him to death. He tried to kill Joe, but the Flash stopped him."

"Another," said Snart.

Barry racked his brain. "There was this guy, Farooq Gibran. He could harness electrical powers and attacked STAR Labs to get revenge on Dr. Wells for the deaths of his friends after he got his powers during the particle accelerator explosion." Barry hesitated, deciding not to mention that Farooq had taken away the Flash's powers for a while as well. "He almost killed us until the Flash showed up to stop him."

Snart looked at Barry, deep in thought. "So everything ties back the particle accelerator explosion. That what created these metahumans." He smirked. "Which makes me wonder why you don't have any powers…"

"Unless it made me super tardy, I don't think so," said Barry as calmly as he could.

Snart managed a small chuckle at this, startling Barry. Snart was a stoic and hard-shelled person. Getting a laugh out of him seemed impossible. "I don't get you, kid. You're just a CSI yet you punch like a trained fighter. I keep threatening you, but you've managed to keep a level head except when I threatened your family."

"I had to deal with a lot of bullies," said Barry flatly, "And the Wests are all I have."

"Because your dad's locked up in Iron Heights," said Snart matter-of-factly, "Something we share in common."

Barry blinked. That was news to him. "Your dad is in Iron Heights?"

"Yes. Not exactly a sterling role model. Then again, my dad never killed my mother so he could have been worse..."  
Barry bristled. "My dad didn't kill my mother." Snart gave him a look of disbelief. "He didn't. I was there. My dad would never hurt my mother. Ever."

"So who was it then?" Said Snart, "A ghost?"

"The man in the yellow suit. In the red lightning." Snart looked a confused by this statement. "He's called the Reverse Flash."

"The Reverse Flash?" Snart gave Barry a new look, one of untempered curiosity. "There's another Flash out there?"

"Except he's pure evil," said Barry, "I mean, evil as in I doubt that anything you've ever done is as bad as what he's done in comparison."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Snart, "So that's the real reason you're teamed up with the Flash."

Barry nodded. It was as good as any excuse for him to be associated with Team Flash. If anything, a half-truth wouldn't get him caught in the lie of his dual identity. "The Reverse Flash killed my mother and he keeps coming back, taunting me about it and taunting the Flash to catch him. He's my enemy just as much as he is the Flash's. But the Flash is the only one who can stop him and get my dad out of prison."

"And the Flash keeps you around because of your connection to the Reverse Flash." Snart's eyes narrowed. "A mutually beneficial relationship."

"You could call it that," said Barry.

Snart merely looked at him pensively. "You're not what you seem at all, are you, Mr. Allen?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked Barry warily.

"It was a rhetorical question, Allen," said Snart sharply. His phone suddenly began to vibrate and he pulled it out. "I'd better take this. Now, keep quiet."

Barry bit his lip. So much for that conversation.

Snart answered the phone. "Mick, what took you so long?"

Barry couldn't hear what the response was, but the voice sounded gruff and irate. He watched as Snart stood, heading for the front door with his back to Barry. In that moment, Barry quickly tested the wires around his wrists, finding them tight and resistant.

"I know you had the night shift. That's why I let you stay in the van. You're awake now though so get in here. Turns out you missed the cop's foster kid coming home last night."

Barry froze as Snart turned around briefly, eyeing Barry and his still bound hands and feet before turning away once more. Barry immediately started trying to vibrate his hands, hoping to loosen the bindings. Again, there was little success. Well, there was little success unless he had intended to chafe his wrists, because he had definitely succeeded in that. Apparently, Snart was as much of an expert at tying people up as he was a master thief.

"Just get in here so I can finish securing the residence, alright?" Snart's raised voice startled Barry who noted the look of impatience that crossed Snart's face for the scarcest of seconds. Snart immediately hung up. He glanced at Barry who quickly tried to look less concerned than he felt. The speedster had a sinking feeling that he was about to become grossly outnumbered.

* * *

Snart opened the door for Mick, letting the raging pyromaniac stomp in before shutting the door carefully. Mick's attention was immediately on Barry Allen who seemed to shrink as Mick marched his way over towards the CSI. A moment of concern for the welfare of their hostage sprang to Snart's mind before Mick could get within three feet of Allen. "Mick. Don't touch him. We need him."

Mick scowled, wheeling around to face Snart. He was definitely beyond rage now. Snart had a brief moment to observe the look of relief that passed over Barry Allen's face before Mick was in his own face.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't beat the kid to a pulp."

"Like I said, we need him," said Snart levelly, "He's the perfect hostage to use against Detective West. If anything, he's part of the Flash's entourage."

"Then we should just grab the kid and get the Flash to come to us."

"Because that worked out so well last time." Snart sighed in exasperation as Barry Allen joined the conversation. He glanced around Mick, shooting the kid a look. "Right. No talking. Shutting up now."

Snart shook his head, returning his attention to the still irate Mick. "We stick to the plan, Mick. When the detective sees that we have his foster kid, he's only choice will to cooperate or we start taking apart the kid until he does."

"Wait, what?"

Snart growled as Barry piped up again, shooting the kid another look. "One more word and I don't care that you're sick, Mr. Allen. I will dislocate your other shoulder, gag you and throw you in a closet until we find the need for you."

Allen's jaw immediately clenched and he swallowed, choosing to focus his attention elsewhere as he looked down at his feet.

"Other shoulder?" said Mick inquisitively, his rage simmering.

"Let's just say that he's got one Hell of a punch for being just some CSI kid," said Snart, earning him a smirk from Mick, "What?"

"You let that little runt get the drop on you?" Mick started laughing much to Snart's annoyance, continuing to do so for a good straight minute before stopping to catch his breath. "Oh, that's rich…"

"It never would have happened if you hadn't missed the fact that he even was here," said Snart crossly, "He probably waltzed right in here last night and you were too busy playing with your lighter to notice."

"Nobody went in or out the front door after the detective came home last night," said Mick firmly, "He had to have come in through the back."

Snart paused. There was one other possibility. "Unless the Flash dropped him off last night…" He stalked over to the kid CSI, pulling the kid's chair so Barry Allen was forced to look him in the eye. The kid looked a little more than scared than the last time. "Why didn't Mick see you enter the house last night? Talk. Fast."

"I was staying late at STAR Labs last night," replied Allen, "The Flash dropped me off so I wouldn't have to call Joe for a lift back here."

"See?" said Mick smugly, "I couldn't miss him if I couldn't see him."

"That's beside the point, Mick." Snart stepped away from Barry as he went into a coughing fit. "And then there's that…"

"Wonderful," commented Mick dryly, "The kid's sicker than a dog." He turned to Snart, poking him in the chest. "If I catch anything, I'm holding it on your head."

"Just go check the rest of the house," said Snart, "Someone needs to keep an eye on Mr. Allen here in case he decides that he's going to be more trouble than he's worth." Snart fixed the CSI with a look and the kid shifted nervously in his chair.

Mick huffed, but headed for the upstairs with a small muttering about what he'd do if he got sick. Snart sighed, plopping himself down in the chair across from Allen again. Finally. Everything was back on schedule. With any luck, things would stay according to plan until Joe West returned home that evening. Snart took in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves ever so slightly.

Then the kid's phone began to ring.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: TADA! Another chapter done and sooooooo much procrastination on everything else. Thank you all for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting this story. I admit that it is a joy to write. Enjoy!**_

_**\- BG**_

_**PS More Barry whump in this chapter.**_

_**PPS For those of you reading "Hostage Situation", I have the next chapter all ready and am merely waiting until Tuesday to upload it.**_

* * *

Something inside Barry froze at the sound of his phone ringing. With his luck, it would turn out to be Cisco rambling on about him not being able to be the Flash and that would be that.

Snart pulled out the phone, looking quite annoyed as he read the caller ID. "Captain Singh. Now why would the head of your precinct be calling you?

Barry groaned. Great. So it was the captain calling instead of Cisco, but it didn't matter. He was still screwed either way.

Snart let the phone go to voicemail. "Talk. Why was he calling you?"

"He's my boss. He's probably calling to find out if I'm really sick or if Joe was just covering for me." Barry glanced at the phone as it began to ring again.

Snart merely muted the call. "So you're the precinct delinquent?"

"No," said Barry, slightly insulted, "I just…have a really poor sense of time and the Captain always seems to be around when I'm at my worst." The phone started ringing again. "I should really answer that-"

"And let your captain know what's happening?" said Snart, muting the call once again, "I don't think so."

"That's not what I meant…" said Barry softly. He refrained from continuing as Mick rejoined them, casting a dark look at the CSI.

"Rest of the house is clear and secure." Mick plopped himself down on the couch, watching them. "Now how should we pass the time? Play twenty questions?"

Snart smirked. "I don't see why not…" He looked to Barry and set his weapon on the table, aiming it towards Barry who glanced between him and the weapon. "Any objections, Mr. Allen? I'm sure you have plenty of information about the Flash that you'd be willing to share with us…"

_"__Like that he's sitting right in front of you?"_ Though Barry, locking his jaw, _"Not likely. I've given you plenty more information that I should have already."_ If Snart decided he had gotten enough information out of him, Snart would probably let Mick beat him to a pulp before Joe could arrive, even if just to make Joe more compliant. He needed to buy some time. "No."

Snart raised an eyebrow. "No?"

"No," said Barry firmly, "Telling you about metahuman criminals was one thing. The Flash? The man who is going to help me get my dad out of prison and catch her real killer? You can go to Hell."

Snart sighed, looking Barry in the eye. Barry glared back at him. "And here I thought we were beginning to get along…"

"You can do what you'd like to me, but I will die before I give up on the people I care about." Barry watched carefully as Snart stood and walked over to face him. "So do your worst. But I'm no use to you dead either."

"We'll see about that, Allen." Barry tensed as Snart came to stand behind him. "You don't seem like the type for having a high pain tolerance…"

Barry let out a short cry as Snart grabbed his dislocated shoulder and dug in his fingers, leaving Barry to writhe in pain. "You're a bully," said Barry sharply, gritting his teeth from the pain, "I've had to deal with bullies my whole life. You're no different than the rest of them."

"We'll see about that, Barry." Snart let go of Barry's shoulder, letting him have a brief moment of relief from the agonizing pain. "Mick, work him. Keep it clean and make sure that you don't break anything. Not yet anyway…"

"With pleasure," said Mick, standing from the couch with a grin. Snart clamped his hands down on Barry's shoulders, holding him in place. "

Barry glared at Mick as the pyromaniac approached him, praying for someone to come to his rescue.

* * *

Captain David Singh scowled as Allen failed to pick up for a third time. What was the problematic and overly tardy CSI up to? He glanced out his office window pensively. He could just let it slide… The kid was a good CSI. He had his oddities and quirks, but he did his job and did it well. At least he did when he was on time. That was the problem. If Joe was covering for Allen skipping work because he just wanted to sleep in, that was not something he would tolerate.

Singh sighed and stood, throwing on his jacket and exiting his office. He turned to the dispatcher. "Are Joe and Thawne back yet from their case?"

The dispatcher shook her head. "Not yet. They're still at the crime scene. Did you want me to get them on the radio for you?"

"No. Just tell Joe I want to speak will him as soon as he gets back. I'm stepping out for a moment. I should be back in an hour."

"Yes, sir. If someone needs to find you, where should I say you are?" asked the dispatcher.

"The West House. Finding out if Barry Allen is really as sick as he says he is." The dispatcher gave him a sympathetic look before he headed for the elevator. He was downstairs and in his car before long, driving towards the West house. With the day's light traffic, it might take him thirty minutes to reach the West house. Hopefully then he'd get some answers.

* * *

Barry's world was fading in and out of focus. Mick had hit him in the jaw with a good right cross, enough to send him tumbling out of the chair and to the kitchen floor. Barry was immediately dragged back to his feet and back to the chair by Snart, leaving him open to another punch to his stomach by Mick. He doubled over in a coughing fit, every part of his body screaming in pain.

"Are you ready to talk now, Allen?" Snart yanked Barry back into an upright position by his collar, forcing him to look him in the eye.

"Never," Barry managed to rasp out, glaring at Snart the best he could. He slumped over again as his body assaulted him with another cough attack.

Snart let out a sigh, glancing at Mick. "That's enough for now… Let him have a break before we start again. We don't need him dying on us…"

"Yet," said Mick sourly, earning a look of annoyance from Snart. He plopped himself down on the couch again, glaring at Barry who couldn't respond as he was assaulted by another coughing fit.

"You're still full of surprises, Mr. Allen. You're a lot tougher than you look." Snart disappeared behind Barry for a moment and suddenly came back with a bottle of water from the fridge, handing it to Barry. Barry looked up at Snart, startled. "Drink. You can't talk if you lose your voice."

Barry nodded with a grimace, taking a slow small sip of the water. It felt glorious as it trickled down his swollen and torn throat. "Thank you…"

"Don't mention it." Snart relieved him of the bottle once he had had his fill. "Now-" Snart paused at the sound of a car door slamming shut in front of the house. "I thought West wouldn't be home until late…"

"He won't be," said Barry warily. He jumped slightly as there was a knock at the door. Who would be there to-?

Snart suddenly clamped a hand over Barry's mouth, gripping Barry's face tightly. Barry squirmed to get free even as Snart brought his mouth close to Barry's ear. "Don't even try it," he whispered. Snart motioned for Mick to approach the door as the knocking came again, the hothead standing and making his way slowly to the door.

"Allen! I know you're in there." Barry froze, recognizing the voice of Captain Singh. Shit. Since when had his luck ever been this bad? "Allen, are you going to let me in or not? Ignoring my calls isn't getting you out of a wellbeing check. We both know that your coma was your last real sick day."

Snart glanced at Barry's phone and then at Barry himself, looking quite annoyed with the CSI. He took out his gun, jamming it under the hollow part of Barry's jaw much to the CSI's discomfort. He motioned for Mick to open the door. "Not a word, Mr. Allen, or your boss gets a bullet to the brain."

Barry tensed as Rory gripped the door handle and started swinging it inwards. He had to do something. But what could he do?

* * *

"Allen, are you going to let me in or not? Ignoring my calls isn't getting you out of a wellbeing check. We both know that your coma was your last real sick day." David Singh waited silently for a response, hearing a small amount of movement from behind the front door. He was about to knock again and continue his tirade when the door suddenly swung inwards, no Barry Allen in sight. Taking it as an invitation, he stepped right in. "It's about time, Allen-"

Singh froze a mere three feet into the house, his eyes locating Barry and his predicament immediately. Leonard Snart stood behind the bound and bruised CSI, a gun jammed into his jaw and a hand clamped over his mouth. The door shut abruptly behind the Captain and he turned, finding Mick Rory and a gun shoved into his face. He sighed, glancing at Barry who gave him an apologetic look. "You really know how to make a mess, don't you, Allen?"

"I wouldn't blame the kid, Captain," said Snart smoothly, "He didn't really have much of a choice. If he'd tried to warn you, Mick would have put a bullet through your skull." He looked over to Rory. "Mick, check him."

Singh stayed perfectly still as Mick Rory took a few steps closer and began to pat him down, removing his phone, car keys and his service weapon. The hotheaded criminal pocketed the items and jammed his weapon into Singh's back, prodding him farther into the house. He forced him into the kitchen and into one of the empty chairs, keeping the weapon trained on Singh the whole time.

"Nice to see you're the cooperative sort, Captain." Snart finally released Allen and pocketed his weapon. He pulled out a roll of electrical wire from a different pocket, using it to tie Singh's hands behind him and to the chair. He glanced at Singh pensively for a moment and then tied the police captain's legs together as well. "That should do."

"What's all this about, Snart?" said Singh calmly, fighting annoyance.

"The Flash," replied Snart, stalking around the table and back over to Barry, "In case you didn't know, Detective West and Mr. Allen here are on good terms with your resident vigilante. And who would know the Flash better than his allies?" Snart put a hand on one of Allen's shoulder and the CSI flinched, a look of immense pain crossing his face. "Not that Mr. Allen here was ever an intended target. He just decided on a very bad day to get sick."

Singh looked Barry over, seeing the signs of illness beneath the layer of pain and bruises. He felt an inkling of pity for the CSI. He just seemed to have all the bad luck. "You were after Joe."

"Precisely."

"And what are you going to do with me?" asked Singh, "I suspect there's a reason you didn't just kill me out right."

"And have every cop in Central City on our tails for the rest of our lives? I don't think so." Snart looked at his watch. "I'm sure you're expected back soon unlike Mr. Allen here. Your office will call or if you're even luckier, Detective West himself will call to find out where you are. Either way, that should get Detective West to come here a little sooner. Mick wasn't exactly looking forward to the wait anyway."

"And if they don't call?" said Singh.

"Then we'll just have to do it ourselves," said Snart. The confident smirk on Snart's face made Singh scowl, glancing at Barry. The CSI couldn't even look him in the eye, his eyes downcast and his expression full of regret. "I'd get comfortable if I were you, Captain. You've got a long wait ahead of you."

Singh watched as Snart and Rory stepped away from them, heading towards the living room. The moment they seemed distracted, he tested the wires around his wrists. They were incredibly tight, but not tight enough to where he was having circulation problems. "You ok, Allen?"

Barry nodded. "Yes, sir." He swallowed nervously. "I'm sorry. I should have tried to warn you."

"Allen." The CSI looked up at Singh. "You weren't exactly in any position to warn me. Besides, I'm alive. I should be thanking you for that." Barry gave him a minute shrug, wincing as he did. "Now, I'm guessing they showed up after Joe left?"

"Yeah," said Barry, "I was asleep on the couch and woke when Snart was breaking in. I tried to overpower him and then…" Barry gestured halfheartedly to his bindings.

"I guess you had one hell of an excuse not to answer my calls," said Singh, "I think I'll let this slide into the pile of your exceedingly rare legitimate excuses."

Barry managed a weak smile. "Thank you, Captain." The smile faded quickly. "I'm really sorry you got dragged into this."

"It's not your fault this time, Allen. Just hold tight." Singh glanced briefly at Snart and Rory, the former clearly eavesdropping on them. "I'm sure this will all work itself out soon. Joe knows what he's doing."

Barry nodded and suddenly doubled over in a coughing fit. Whether it was from his illness or something else, Singh frowned, watching quietly as Barry struggled to catch his breath. Help or no help, they were definitely in a pickle.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: WOW THIS TOOK FOREVER TO FINISH! Sorry everyone for the long wait. This past week has been absolute Hell because of school and I only just got a chance this weekend to even touch any of my fan fics. So, as a thank you for everyone being so patient and also for having to wait so long for this, I am posting one chapter now and another after I go make some brownies for a friend's housewarming party. Thank you sooooooo much for your patience and especially thank you for reading, reviewing, following and/or favoriting this story.**_

**_For this chapter, I want to give a special thank you and shout out to _****_sabra jaguar_****_ and also one of my guest reviewers for reminding me about Wells and his surveillance. Thank you both very much!_**

**_-BG_**

* * *

Doctor Wells watched tensely as he observed the activities within the West house. Snart was searching the kitchen for something while Mick Rory sat on the couch in the living room, watching their two captives. Today was turning into quite an eventful day.

Wells had been hiding away in his private room when Detective West had called and informed him of Barry's illness and the boy needing to take a sick day from all the hero stuff. Wells had done his best to be cordial, promising to inform Caitlin and Cisco. Following a quick text to Cisco and Caitlin, he'd immediately brought up his surveillance cameras of the West house, just in time to see Leonard Snart enter the house, taking the rousing Barry by surprise. There had been a few tense moments, particularly when Barry had attacked Snart. That had not ended well for the speedster, the boy's muffled cry as Snart dislocated his shoulder almost causing Wells to race out the door and snap Snart's neck for even touching Barry. His self-restraint however was greater than his fury and forced him to merely close his hands into tight fists, seething with rage. He couldn't intervene. Not yet. It was too soon for him to reveal himself.

Agonizingly, Wells had been forced to watch as Mick Rory began to beat on Barry, never drawing blood, but marbling Barry's normally pale skin with a set of dark bruises. He imagined for a moment swooping in and ripping Mick Rory's heart straight from his chest before shattering Snart's spine. The horror that would be on Barry's face. The sudden realization. The fear that would be in his eyes. It would be beautiful, even more so if he finally gave away his identity in the process. Wells had had to smile at this thought. It wouldn't just be beautiful. It would be perfect.

Now the appearance of Captain Singh had thrown off every contingency plan he had formed over the past hour or so. Not only was the Captain in the dark about Barry's hero status, but he was unaware of the existence of Barry's 'Man in Yellow.' Showing up as Harrison Wells and crushing Barry's spirit wouldn't exactly be an option either anymore. Not unless he killed the Captain, but that might be taking things a step too far.

None of his plans however prepared him for the sudden appearance of Snart's face looming in front of the kitchen camera and screen going black.

* * *

Leonard Snart had always been quite paranoid. It had kept him alive, kept him out of jail and most of all kept him from getting stabbed in the back by some not exactly trustworthy partners. Throughout the years, his senses had become heightened, able to spot a police tail from several blocks away and surveillance the moment he entered a room.

Now as he stood in the West House, Snart could feel someone was watching them everywhere he went in the house. He had been constantly searching for the source, never quite being able to pinpoint where it was coming from. He needed to find out what was happening.

Strolling through the kitchen, he could sense the eyes on him, following his every move. Mick gave him a look of annoyance at his seemingly endless pacing, but he ignored it. The eyes of Captain Singh and Barry Allen followed his search warily. He should probably say something to discomfort them- No. He needed to focus. He needed to find the source of the-

There.

Snart paused as his eyes finally caught a glint of something. It looked so inconspicuous. No one would have noticed it unless they had been specifically looking for it. He strolled quickly over to the refrigerator, pulling out his knife much to the surprise of Mick and the alarm of Mr. Allen and the Captain. Snart's fingers grasped the camera, pulling it out from its location inside the water dispenser display and cutting the wires attached to it. Immediately, he felt the feeling of being watched disappear.

"What the…?" Barry looked at him with a mixture of horror and confusion. The Captain frowned, looking between Snart, Allen and the camera.

Mick on the other hand had an expression on his face that was a perfect mixture of bewilderment and irritation. He stood, approaching Snart with blazing eyes. He snatched the camera from Snart's hand and crushed it under the heel of his boot. He immediately whirled on Allen and the Captain. "What's the meaning of this, huh? Is this some sort of secret sting operation?" He raised a hand to hit Barry who flinched, leaning away from Mick and falling off his chair in the process.

"MICK." Snart grabbed the pyro's arm and pulled him away from the fallen CSI. "Mick, calm down. Given Mr. Allen's reaction, I doubt that he even knew the camera was there. But seeing as someone has clearly been watching us, we're going to have to make a change in our plans…" He glanced between Barry and the Captain. "Go start up the van and pull up in front of the house. We'll take Mr. Allen with us."

"Gladly," said Mick with a scowl. He head out of the kitchen, just barely missing stepping on Barry as he stalked out the front door.

"Now…" Snart immediately turned to the Captain, removing the man's tie. The Captain watched him warily. "Since we don't need you warning anyone before we're long gone…" Snart tied a knot in the middle of the tie and proceeded to gag the Captain who struggled mildly, glaring at Snart. "I'm sure Detective West won't be too far behind once you fail to return."

Snart turned back to Barry whose eyes were filled with a mixture of fire and fear. "Time to go, Barry." He took his knife out again, cutting the wires around the CSI's ankles. He yanked him to his feet as he heard Mick's footsteps approaching the front door. "Make a sound and I'll make sure that your captain walks with a limp for the rest of his life, got it?"

Barry Allen swallowed hard and looked at his Captain briefly before looking back at Snart, nodding reluctantly.

Snart shoved the CSI over to Mick as he reentered the kitchen. "Toss him in the back and keep an eye on him. I'll just be a moment."

Mick grabbed Barry by the back of his neck, half dragging, half shoving the CSI out the door. A door slamming shut moments later told Snart that things were going according to plan.

"No hard feelings, Captain, but you'd slow us down," said Snart. He checked the Captain's restraints. "Besides, I want you to give Detective West a message. Think you can do that?" The Captain merely glared at him. "Good. Just tell him to meet us at the old Ferris Air Facility at 10 tonight or Mr. Allen loses his life." Snart set the Captain's things down on the table, retrieving Barry's phone. "Until next time, Captain."

Snart headed for the door, hesitating for a moment as he passed through the living room. His eyes fell on the bottle of cough syrup still on the table. He sighed before pocketing it and leaving, locking the door on his way out. He hurried into the van, strapping himself into the driver's seat before turning around to check the back. Mick had strapped himself in while Barry Allen lay on the floor, looking up at him with uncertainty. "I'd get comfortable, Allen. We've got a bit of a trip ahead of us." The CSI merely rolled his eyes and looked away, concentrating on the floor instead. Snart smirked and pulled away from the West household. Maybe things would work out after all.

* * *

Joe and Eddie got back from their crime scene around noon, having swung by Bart's on 3rd Street to pick up lunch before heading back. Now as they entered the precinct, Joe felt a sense of dread as the dispatched waved him over. "Mary, what is it?"

"Captain Singh is looking for you, Joe."

Joe glanced at the Captain's closed office. "Is he in?"

"He went to go check on Allen," said Mary causing Joe to let out a weary sigh, "But he said he'd be back in an hour. It's been over two hours. I tried his phone, but it keeps going to voicemail."

Joe nodded, grimacing. He turned to Eddie who had been listening in, a look of worry crossing the young detective's face. "Eddie…"

"Yeah…" Eddie turned to Mary. "We'll go check to see what's going on. We should be back soon. Otherwise, you may want to call the cavalry."

Mary nodded. "Will do."

Joe headed back to the elevator, Eddie in tow. Hopefully, this was just nothing, but his gut told him it was a lot worse.

* * *

Snart was extremely pleased as they drove through Central City without even the slightest sign of trouble. Hell, they were almost to Keystone City by the time he saw his first cop who was too busy writing a speeding ticket to even pay attention to them.

"How's Mr. Allen?" asked Snart, looking back briefly via the rearview mirror.

Mick looked down at Barry and snorted, clearly amused. "Would you believe me if I told you he was asleep?"

Snart gave Mick a look and turned around to look at Mr. Allen at the next red light. The CSI was out cold, his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling in an even rhythm. Either he was taking this really calmly or his illness had knocked him on his ass again. Either way, Snart let out a small chuckle before returning his focus to the road. They still had a long drive ahead of them...


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/N: Booya! Brownies are done and so is this chapter. This one is much longer than the rest of them, but I hope you can enjoy it none the less. Thanks to everyone who has favorited, followed, read and reviewed. You're the best!_**

**_Anyhow, no more talking. Time for the main event!_**

**_-BG_**

* * *

Barry woke with a jerk at a sharp pain in his side, finding himself looking up at an impatient Mick Rory. Crap. It hadn't all just been a nightmare…

"On your feet," said Rory, kicking him in the side again, "We're here."

Barry sat up slowly, clambering to his feet. "And where exactly is here?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Mick opened the back door and shoved Barry out, causing the speedster to tumble onto the hard concrete and cry out in pain as he landed heavily on his already dislocated shoulder.

"Mick!" Snart suddenly appeared from around the van, a cross expression on his face. "Getting him out of the van doesn't involve damaging him any further."

"Still worth it," said Mick smugly, walking away from Barry and Snart towards what looked like a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.

Snart sighed and turned to Barry. "On your feet…" Barry struggled to get to his feet, failing as his shoulder screamed in pain. Suddenly Snart was there, grabbing him by his good arm and pulling him to his feet. Barry looked at Snart as he steadied his feet, surprised. Snart merely gave him a look and aimed his weapon at the CSI. "Just get moving, Allen. Into the house."

Barry nodded, complying. Stepping through the door, he found himself standing in a quaint looking living room. Snart grabbed his uninjured shoulder, guiding him further into the house. They finally stopped in a small sitting room where Snart shoved Barry down into one of the chairs.

"Wait here." Snart disappeared into another room, leaving Barry to observe the seemingly normal sitting room.

There were only two chairs, one of which he was sitting in. There was a four-seater sofa with two lamp tables adjacent to the arms and a short coffee table situated between the chairs and the sofa. It looked rather homey, even for Snart.

"Enjoying the décor?" Barry's head snapped around at Snart's voice. When he had reentered, Barry had no clue, but he tensed as he saw Snart's knife in his hands. "Now just hold still." Barry flattened himself against the back of the chair and Snart sighed. "If I were going to kill you, Allen, I would have done it the moment I walked into Detective West's house and saw you. Now just sit still."

Barry looked at Snart, looking for some sign of Snart lying. If Snart was lying, he decided, he was really good at it. Barry sighed and sat perfectly still. Snart grabbed Barry's arms in one hand, cutting the wires around the CSI's wrists in one smooth cut. Barry swallowed, massaging his abraded wrists. It was scary how experienced Snart seemed with everything.

"Now," said Snart, giving Barry a firm look, "The nearest house is three miles from here. If you do try to escape, you won't get far." Barry fought to hide a smirk at this comment. If he escaped, he could make it to Central City and back before they even noticed he was gone. "In case you have any ideas that this is just a field trip though…" Snart pulled out a set of handcuffs and cuffed Barry's wrists around one of the chair arms. "A little deterrent."

"Like I could run anywhere," said Barry flatly, "I don't know where are so I wouldn't even know which direction to run."

"Good," said Snart. He walked around behind Barry followed his movements confused.

"Lenny, are you just going to let Mick take over the garage again?"

Barry turned his attention towards the female voice, startled to see a woman with long wavy brunette hair enter the room. He barely registered Snart moving behind him, completely distracted until Snart suddenly grasped his shoulder and gave it a twist. The pain of his shoulder being snapped back into place caused him to let out a loud yell followed by a quiet f-bomb that clearly startled both Snart and the woman.

"I'm going to guess that that hurt," said Snart slowly as Barry slumped over with a hiss, trying to shield his injured shoulder the best he could in the chair. He walked over to the brunette. "Thanks for distracting him."

"No problem," said the brunette, frowning, "Did you just…?"

"I had already dislocated his shoulder," said Snart, "That was me popping it back into place."

"I'll get some ice…" said the woman slowly, turning to leave.

"And the first aid kit," said Snart. He stepped in front of Barry, forcing the CSI to sit up again. "Just breathe. It's going to hurt for a while but it'll feel better soon."

"Why the Hell did you do that?" hissed Barry, his eyes watering still from the pain.

"If I had told you what I was doing, your muscles would have been too tight. I had to catch you off guard." Snart patted Barry's other shoulder. "Besides, I promised that I'd reset it if you were good and you've been pretty good so far. Just keep it that way and I won't have to dislocate it again."

Barry nodded, taking in a shaky breath. Even now he could feel his healing factor kicking in to repair the damage. Wait, his healing was working again? Barry took another breath, hiding his relief. If his healing was returning, that meant that his speed wouldn't be too far behind. Still, he needed to keep up the charade. "Thanks…I guess…"

"Don't mention it." Snart stepped back as the woman returned with a bag of ice and the first aid kit. "Thank you, Lisa." Snart looked between Lisa and Barry as he took the supplies from her. "Allen, this is my sister, Lisa. Lisa, this is Barry Allen. He works for the CCPD. He's buddies with the Flash."

"Hi," said Barry, his voice slightly strangled.

"Hi…" Lisa turned her attention back to her brother. "I thought you were after Detective West."

"We were," said Snart as he proceeded to place the ice on Barry's shoulder and use the gauze from the kit to strap it down tightly, "Barry here is the detective's foster son."

Lisa raised an eyebrow. "The CSI?" She looked Barry over. "He doesn't look like much…"

"Don't let that fool you. He's got a mean right cross," stated Snart, finishing off his work.

Lisa scoffed only to stop as Snart gave her an exasperated look. "You're kidding me… You let down your guard and he almost took you out?"

"Not even almost," said Snart defensively.

"But he got the drop on you, didn't he?" Lisa looked at Barry, looking somewhat impressed. "I like him already…"

Barry could feel his cheeks turning a bright red at this comment. "Sorry. I've already got a girlfriend. Besides, not only are we incompatible, I'm pretty sure getting on your brother's bad side right wouldn't exactly be productive to my health."

"Good answer," said Snart, "Lisa, would you mind…?"

"I'll go check on Mick," said Lisa, "Make sure he isn't about to level the place. Have fun with Babyface here."

"Thanks." Snart watched his sister leave, rolling his eyes as soon as she was gone.

Barry glanced between Snart and the doorway Lisa had just exited through. "Is it always like that?"

Snart snorted. "More often than not. She's a bit wilder than I am."

Barry paused, choosing his words carefully. "She's lucky to have you."

"Oh really?" Snart gave Barry a look.

"Really," replied Barry, "I mean, I have Iris for a foster sister, but…your sister is your flesh and blood."

"Family is family," said Snart, "But it's never something as simple as flesh and blood…"

Barry nodded. "That I can believe."

Snart took a seat across from Barry on the sofa, folding his arms over his chest. "So…Barry…why would there be cameras all over Detective West's house?"

"All over…?" Barry blinked, staring at Snart. "You mean there were others in the house?"

"I'm somewhat of an expert at surveillance. I felt like I was being watched in every square inch of that house."

Barry shook his head in disbelief. "That…that's impossible."

"You'd better believe it, Allen," said Snart, "So you have no clue why you were under such tight surveillance?"

"No," said Barry firmly, "I don't have a clue."

"It wasn't the Flash?"

Barry shook his head. "No. Definitely not the Flash. That I'm a hundred percent sure about." He gritted his teeth, running through all the possible scenarios in his head. Who would want to watch him so intimately except- Barry took in a deep breath as he felt a wave of fear and disgust fill every inch of his being. There was only one person who could be that desperate to watch him. "Shit…"

"Let me guess, you figured it out," said Snart blandly.

Barry nodded, swallowing. God, what had that monster seen? How long had he been watching him? "The Reverse Flash. It has to be him."

"You said he was obsessed with you and the Flash," said Snart, "So I guess the good news for me is that the Flash isn't aware that we have you. The bad news is that the Reverse Flash does. And it will only be a matter of time until they both come after you." Snart looked at Barry pensively. "So what do we do with you?"

"You could always let me go," suggested Barry.

"Before I get what I want? No. I don't think so."

Barry shrugged somewhat awkwardly. "It was worth a shot…"

Snart smirked. "If you say so…"

Barry watched as Snart pulled out a kit from the lamp table and began to slowly take apart his gun and clean it. "…can I ask you a question?"

"Depends on the question," said Snart, his attention focused on his work, "Shoot."

"…why are you so…" Barry paused momentarily, searching for the right word. "…fixated on the Flash? Why do you seem to care so much about him?"

"Why?" Snart looked Barry in the eye, stopping his work. "Because he's a challenge. He's something different. Something new. He forced me to up my game. I'm getting better at what I do because of him." Snart leaned forward slightly. "But the one thing that intrigues me the most is how I can know everyone who is important to him and yet I can't find a trace of who he really is."

"What do you plan to do to him if you ever find out who he is?" asked Barry, feeling a swell of fear.

This time Snart gave Barry a genuine smile, a look in his eyes that made Barry tremble. "I'd hate to ruin the surprise." He returned to cleaning his gun, a faint smirk still on his face.

Barry stayed silent, trying to calm his racing heart. Whatever Snart had planned for him, he needed to get out of there. He needed to get out of there before Snart had the chance to discover the truth.

* * *

It had taken Joe and Eddie far longer than either would have liked to reach Joe's house thanks largely to the midday traffic mess and a five-car pileup on the freeway. It was already 1:20 by the time they pulled up to the house, spotting a very familiar car parked on front of the house.

"That's the Captain's car alright." Eddie hurried out of their own car, looking quite worried.

"He must be inside." Joe pulled out his keys as they raced to the front door and Joe flung it open.

The first thing Joe noticed was the absence of Barry from the couch. The next thing was the sight of Captain Singh bound and gagged to a chair in the kitchen. "David."

Eddie and Joe rushed over to their boss, Eddie taking care of the restraints while Joe removed the Captain's gag. "David, what happened?"

"Leonard Snart and Mick Rory," said the Captain bitterly, "And they took Allen." He began massaging his abraded wrists the moment Eddie cut them free. "They came in sometime after you left and subdued Allen. Snart had a gun to his head when I walked in. They were going to wait for you to come home when Snart found a camera installed in your refrigerator." Singh gestured to the remains of the camera, which Joe decided to investigate as the Captain kept talking. "Then they gagged me and took off with Allen."

"Why would Snart take Barry?" asked Eddie, confused.

"They want him for leverage against you, Joe." Joe turned sharply to look at Singh, his words stabbing him in the gut. "Snart said something about using you to find out the Flash's true identity. He wants you to meet him tonight at 10 at the old Ferris Air Testing Facility."

Joe suddenly felt sick, leaning up against the counter to steady himself. Snart didn't know Barry was the Flash. Snart had the Flash right in his hands and didn't even know it. If Joe didn't go meet up with Snart, the coldblooded thief would kill Barry just to make a point. If Joe went, but didn't tell Snart who the Flash was, he's kill Barry. If he went and did tell Snart that Barry was the Flash… Joe shuddered. He didn't even want to know what would happen then.

"Joe?" Eddie's voice broke Joe out of his dark train of thoughts. Eddie stood in front of Joe, a concerned look on his face. "Joe, are you all right?"

Joe looked at his partner, feeling the Captain's eyes on him as well. "No. No, I am not ok. Leonard Snart has my kid and…I can't protect him. I can't save him either."

"Can't the Flash-?"

"No." Joe firmly cut off Eddie, his frustration blending in with his grief. "No the Flash can't help Barry. And anything I do to try to save him is going to get him killed."

"Joe." Singh's calm voice cut through the air and Joe looked directly at him. The Captain grabbed his shoulders firmly, steadying Joe as well as he could. "I need you to focus. Why can't the Flash help Barry and why would anything you could do to help Barry get him killed?"

Joe took a deep, shaky breath. He had to tell them. He had to tell them the truth. God, how had it come to this? "The Flash can't help Barry because Barry is the Flash."

The Captain took a step back away from Joe, floored. Eddie just stared at Joe, wide eyed and mouth gapping. If things weren't looking so damn grim right now, it almost would have been funny.

Singh was the first to speak. "Allen is the Flash?" Joe nodded. "How long have you known?"

"Since he rescued Eddie and I from Mardon," said Joe quietly, "He stopped Mardon from creating a tornado that would have wiped out the city."

Singh grimaced. "We'll discuss this more later. For now, we need to put out a bollo on Snart and Rory and make sure Allen's face is out there. Do you think he'll be able to escape?"

Joe shook his head. "I don't know. He was too weak to use them this morning. That's how I knew he was sick. Being with Snart though… I don't see how that could help his illness at all much less help him get his speed back. Besides, if he does use them to escape, it's just as good as tell Snart straight to his face who the Flash is. Then Snart will do his damnest to hurt Barry in every way he can."

The Captain nodded. "First things first, we need to get the word out about Allen and his kidnapping. It may buy us some time."

Joe nodded as the trio headed out the door, the Captain calling in the incident as they exited the house. He glanced at his phone, thinking pensively. The police couldn't help. What the hell could they do against Snart? They needed help.

Joe's phone was already dialing Cisco before he could even stop himself.

"Hey, Detective West. What's up? How's-?"

"Barry's been kidnapped by Snart and Mick Rory," Joe blurted out before the overly cheerful mechanical engineer could continue, "We don't know where they've gone only what they want."

"And what's that?" Cisco's tone had immediately changed to one of complete seriousness.

"They want to used Barry to get me to tell them the Flash's real identity." An unsettling silence met Joe's words. "Cisco?"

"Yeah, still here. I'm contacting Caitlin and Dr. Wells. We'll meet you at the precinct."

"Thank you." Joe got into his car with Eddie who looked quite concerned. "And Cisco? Make sure that Caitlin and Wells know that I had to tell the Captain and Eddie the truth."

Joe could practically see the grimace on Cisco's face even over the phone. "Shit… Wells is not going to be happy."

"I know. But his ire can wait until we get Barry back. See you at the precinct."

"Yeah. Be there soon."

Joe hung up and immediately floored it away from the house. They needed to get Barry back. They needed to get him back before Snart figured things out for himself.

* * *

Snart watched as Barry's head lolled slightly to the side before suddenly jerking up right again. It was the fifth time in the past six minutes and he couldn't help but find it amusing. They'd been sitting there for a couple of hours now without incident. Lisa had brought them both sandwiches. Allen's had disappeared in seconds much to Snart's surprise. If the kid's appetite was up, he must have been feeling better. In fact, he hadn't heard the kid cough once in the past hour. Still, the kid seemed a little out of it. "Tired, Allen?"

The CSI's turned his head sharply at Snart's comment. "Um, no, just...well, a little. I'm not exactly used to being a hostage, you know… It's kind of exhausting."

Snart nodded, smirking momentarily. To be honest, Barry Allen had grown on him over the past several hours. Maybe in a different life, he and Barry Allen would have been friends rather than individuals on opposing sides of the law. Maybe. But this was a very different world and Allen was not his friend, but his bait, his hostage to lure in Detective West and maybe even the Flash himself to rescue the captive CSI.

Snart glanced at the clock. The kid had been good for over two hours, not even muttering a peep when Snart had turned on the radio and the broadcast had been loudly discussing Barry's kidnapping. Hell, Allen hadn't even tried to escape when Snart had left the room on multiple occasions to check on Mick while Lisa was out. Seeing as how he and Rory were now public enemy's number one and two, Lisa had left over an hour ago to sneak into STAR Labs and retrieve the Heat and Cold guns while everyone was in a panic over Allen's abduction, a plan that had originally involved both her and Mick.

Snart stood, startling the CSI as he walked over and uncuffed him from the chair. "On your feet."

Allen stood shakily, whether it was from fear or the duration he had been sitting was of little consequence to Snart. "What's going on?"

"Bathroom trip." Barry blinked, surprised. "What? You think I'm a monster who wouldn't even allow a hostage to take care of their basic needs?"

"…I don't know what to make of you," said the CSI honestly, "Just when I think I get you…"

"I end up throwing you for a loop." Snart smirked. "Good. I'd rather not be too predictable." He grabbed the kid's arm, dragging him out of the sitting room and into the hall bathroom. There were no windows and only one door in and out. "Take care of your business. I'll just be right outside. In case you get any bright ideas about barricading yourself in, the lock doesn't work."

Allen swallowed, glancing about the bathroom, nervously. "…good to know."

Snart merely shut the door and took a few steps away to give the kid some privacy. He allowed himself a moment to think about Barry. Yes, they were on opposite sides of the law and the CSI was clearly no Flash, but Snart couldn't help but admire the kid. He was both timid and brave as well as smart and strong. An unlikely combination of contradictions rolled up into a single skinny kid whose perfectly angelic face could probably made girls' hearts leap-

Snart suddenly felt as if he had been slapped in the face. It had been right in front of him this whole time and he hadn't even noticed. The kid's face. When they'd left the West house, the kid had had a large purple bruise on his face from where Mick had hit him repeatedly. As the door had just shut in Allen's face, the bruise had disappeared. Everything was coming together now, each of the bits and pieces of what he knew about Barry Allen and their interactions fitting together perfectly to paint a clear and startling picture of the seemingly innocent CSI. The look that had passed in the kid's eyes when they had first met and he had stated his reason for breaking into the West house should have been his first clue.

Snart walked back over to the bathroom as he heard the toilet flush and the faucet running, drawing his weapon. The moment the door opened, he pressed it into the startled and immediately terrified face of Barry Allen who took a step back into the room in fear. "We need to talk, Barry Allen. Or should I call you the Flash?" The horrified look that Barry Allen gave him was all Snart needed to confirm his theory. Snart smiled and thanked whatever deity had decided to give him this gift. Yes, things were definitely looking up now.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: I promised that I'd have this up at least by this morning and it's still technically morning where I am so... XD I sincerely apologize for the wait, but after I am done with all of my final papers this upcoming week, I should have more time to devote to this story as well as all of my other one's. I'll post the next chapter as soon as possible as I already have a bit of it written.**_

_**Thank you as usual to everyone who has review, read, followed, or favorited this piece. I can't say often enough how awesome you all are.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**-BG**_

* * *

"Or should I call you the Flash?"

Barry's already racing heart skipped a beat at Snart's words, sending a dreadful feeling up his spine. He knew. Snart knew. How did he know? Shit. He needed to play this cool. "What are you talking-?"

Snart fired his weapon and Barry dodged the bullet on instinct, his access to his speed lasting just long enough for him to plaster himself against the sidewall as the bullet bit into the wall that had formerly been behind him, the hole level with where his heart would have been.

"What the Hell?" snapped Barry, "You could have killed me!"

"Only if I was wrong." Snart looked Barry over, his weapon still trained on Barry. "I must say, I never would have guessed that the Flash would be so…unremarkable. First things first though, why haven't you run? Was it to protect your identity or is it something else?"

Barry glanced between Snart and his weapon. God, why couldn't his speed just work?! Lying wasn't exactly an option right now, but he sure wished running was. He-

A bullet spat into the wall next to Barry's head and he jumped, yanked back from his thoughts as Snart glared at him. "Answer me. Or next time I won't miss…"

Barry swallowed. Shit. "Both! It's both! Ok?"

Snart snorted. "Both? Well the identity thing's passed. What's holding you back now?"

Barry glanced at the gun muzzle. What the Hell could he do? He was on his own. He had no back up. He had no powers. Hell, he didn't even know where he was! He sighed, shutting his eyes momentarily. Time to drop the timid CSI act. Yeah, he was scared, but it didn't mean he had to be afraid. He opened his eyes giving Snart a cold, hard look. "My speed isn't working, ok? It wasn't working this morning when I was sick and it's still not working properly now. Happy?" Barry gritted his teeth. Best to get it all out now. "You caught me. Good for you. It must be your lucky day. You caught me because you show up on the one day out of the year I get sick and my powers decided to stop working. Good job. Lucky you. You must have found a luck horseshoe and I must have walked under a ladder. But spare me the 'how disappointing' speech would you and just kill me already if that's what you plan to do because, honestly, my day couldn't get any worse right now."

"That's debatable." To Barry's surprise, Snart chuckled and relaxed his aim, but he kept out of striking range. "And you're right. It must be my lucky day." He glanced Barry over again, this time approvingly. "It's nice to see the real you, Flash. I was wondering if you'd show up."

Barry rolled his eyes. "What gave me away? How did you know?"

"The bruise Mick left on your face. It disappeared." Barry took a second to glance at the bathroom mirror, grimacing at the lack of bruising. "A bit obvious…"

Barry, for once in his superhero career, cursed his rapid healing. Of all the times for it to work against him… "So what now?"

"Now you're going to tell me how you did that and then…then we're going to have a long chat."

Barry felt himself pale slightly as Snart took a step closed. He could really, really use his speed at full strength right about now…

* * *

Lisa Snart couldn't help, but marvel at the maze that was STAR Labs. Sure, it was easy getting in and finding her way to Cisco Ramon's lab to grab the parts to the Cold and Heat Guns. Finding her way out was going to be a hassle though.

"I'll be in the garage in a minute. Just need to grab something from my lab." STAR Lab's resident mechanical engineer, Cisco Ramon, suddenly entered his lab and Lisa hid behind one of the many towers of tools, watching him carefully. He grabbed a device from his lab table and was back out the door, never even noticing her presence, his phone plastered to his ear. "Yeah. I'm on my way, Dr. Wells. Be up in a minute."

Lisa smirked at her luck. Little did the naïve scientist know that he was going to lead her out of there. She stood and quietly followed the voice of Cisco as he made his way through the building. As one of the few staff left at the lab, he seemed to know the layout by heart. She stopped hearing Cisco's voice before too long and slowed, soon finding herself at the entrance to the garage. Cisco was gassing up a STAR Labs van while Dr. Snow lowered a ramp for Dr. Wells to board the van. She'd have to slip out when they left.

"Dr. Wells, what do you think Cold's going to do if he finds out the truth about Barry?" Lisa's ears perked up at Cisco's words. The CSI had a secret?

"I don't know, Cisco," replied Dr. Wells as he wheeled himself into the van, "I pray that he never finds out Barry's true connection to the Flash, but we both know that while Snart is the enemy, he is highly intelligent. He will find out sooner rather than later and we need to find Barry before that can happen."

"But if Snart does find out…, what…what do you think he'll do to him?" Cisco looked at the head scientist nervously.

"I'd rather not think about that right now, Cisco," said Wells tensely, "There are a great deal of things I would prefer not to image could be happening to Barry even at this moment, but if Snart discovers he is the Flash, I doubt it will be anything pleasant."

Lisa's eyes widened as she continued to observe the STAR Labs crew continue to load their van in awkward silence. Impossible… Their scrawny, sickly sweet prisoner was the Flash?! There was just no way. Len had to hear this though. Lisa waited for Cisco to get in the driver's seat and pull the van out of the garage before she whipped out her phone, dialing Len's number immediately.

"Lisa, any trouble?"

"No, but Len, you're not going to believe this but Barry Allen-!"

"Barry Allen is the Flash. Yes, I'm aware."

Lisa froze. "How…?"

"Never mind that. See you when you get back." Len hung up and Lisa just stared at the phone. How had he known?

* * *

Snart had just finished guiding the Flash down to the basement when his phone started ringing. He glanced at the caller ID and answered immediately, motioning for Barry to move over into the corner of the basement while he took the call. "Lisa, any trouble?"

"No, by Len, you're not going to believe this, but Barry Allen-!"

"Barry Allen is the Flash," said Snart calmly, enjoying the tension that appeared across Barry Allen's face at his words, "Yes, I'm aware."

"How…?"

"Never mind that. See you when you get back." Snart hung up and pocketed his phone once again. "Ok, Scarlett, in there." Snart motioned for Barry to head over to the rather large meat locker that stood in one corner of the basement. Why there was a fully functional meat locker in the basement of the house and not out at the barn was anyone's guess, but for now it would serve its purpose. Besides, it wasn't like the farm owners could complain about Snart appropriating it along with their house. The elderly couple were supposed to be on vacation for the next three months.

Barry swallowed and shook his head. "I'm not going in there."

"I could always shoot out your knees and just drag you in there myself," said Snart, "I don't really want to have to worry about you bleeding out on me, but it would at least get you to do what I say. So get into the meat locker, or I will shoot you."

Barry shook his head again. "No. I won't do it. You're going to put me on ice until I'm either dead or nearly frozen stiff and then start taking me apart."

Snart sighed. "You really do have a flare for the dramatic, don't you, Allen?" He glanced his nemesis over. "Besides, I don't want to kill you."

Barry snorted. "Right. Because that's not why you kidnapped Caitlin and called me out to fight you and Heatwave."

Snart raised an eyebrow. "Heatwave?"

"Cisco's name for Mick Rory," said Barry flatly.

Snart couldn't help smirking at this. "The kid knows how to pick a good name… Captain Cold… Heatwave… Wonder what he'd call my sister if she had a weapon like ours…"

"Depends on the weapon, I guess," said Barry.

"And look, we got off topic," said Snart. He savored the bitter expression that mapped its way across Barry's face. "I'm not stupid, Barry. Get in the meat locker now."

"No." Snart grimaced at Barry's stubbornness. Guess they'd have to do things the hard way… He took a step toward the Flash, watching as a look passed over the metahuman hero. The kid was planning something-

Snart suddenly found his weapon ripped from his hand, Barry no longer in front of him. The feeling of a muzzle pressing into his back came seconds later as Barry pulled him into a chokehold. Startling as this development was, Snart couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. "Well, well, well, Mr. Allen. You certainly know how to turn the tables…"

"Enough," said Barry tersely, "We're going to walk up those stairs and we're going to get into the van. You're going to tell me exactly where we are and then we're both going to head back to Central City."

"And how do you intend to get me to go anywhere?" said Snart flatly, "You may have a gun pointed at me, but I know you won't kill me and you're not getting me up these stairs much less all the way to Central City-"

Snart felt an abrupt pull of his stomach, suddenly finding himself standing in the sitting room. He felt just about ready to puke as the rest of his body caught up with him, but swallowed the bile rising within him. There was no way he'd give the Flash the satisfaction of seeing him puke. "A little warning next time, Scarlett."

"There won't be a next time," said Barry.

Snart chuckled. "You said that the last time we met and yet here we are. You'd think you'd have learned then that there will always be a next time."

"Not today," said Barry, shoving Snart forward as he headed for the front door.

Meanwhile, Snart's brain was running on overload. The Flash had gotten the drop on him, yes, but he was still very weak. One false step and he could easily take down the speedster. "We'll see, Flash… We'll see." The faint sound of boots behind them reached Snart's ears and he fought a grin. That could work too…

* * *

"We'll see, Flash… We'll see." The tone of Snart's voice chilled Barry to the core as they entered the living room and headed for the front door. Something was up. Snart was too calm for-

Something hard slammed into the back of Barry's head, causing him to release Snart as he was nearly knocked off his feet. He steadied himself, turning with a grimace as he faced Mick Rory and his gun, the butt end still raised from hitting him. Now or never.

"Not so fast, kid-" Barry didn't give Mick a chance to relax, disarming the crook before knocking him to the floor with a well-placed upper cut to the man's chin.

Barry aimed both weapons at their previous owners, scowling. "Now. Where are we?"

Mick let out a low growl, eyes blazing as he tried to stand.

Barry fired without hesitation, the bullet biting into the carpet in front of Mick and startling the criminal into stillness. "I won't ask again. Where are we?"

"About fifty miles outside of Keystone City," said Snart calmly, "Just far enough to give you a headache right now, _Flash_."

"What?!" Mick bellowed, his growl returning, "The kid's-?!"

"The Flash, yes," said Snart. He looked Barry over, hands up. "So what now, Allen? Are you going to just leave us here and take the van all the way back home and hope you can get backup here in time to catch us, or are you going to take us with you? Or, do you plan on sitting on us until your cop friends get here?" He plucked Barry's phone suddenly out of his parka. "You could call them right now even…"

Barry's eyes narrowed. Snart was up to something again. "…like you would just let me call the cops."

Snart shrugged. "Not like we have much of a choice right now. You may not be at full power, but I doubt we could make a move right now before you'd stop us. Besides, the landline is down and we're certainly not going to give you our phones."

Barry frowned. This was too simple. Nothing was this simple, especially with Snart. But he had a point. Even if he tried running to Keystone, he'd probably only be able to run in bursts and run out of juice before he got within six miles of the city. He'd already expended enough of his energy disarming Snart and Mick. "…fine." He pocketed one of the guns, and held out his hand to Snart. "Phone. Now."

"Fine." Snart stepped forward slowly, his hand holding Barry's phone outstretched. "Take it."

As Barry reached out to grab the phone, he stopped. Something was up. Where was Snart's other hand?

Snart moved before Barry could even process it. His non phone hand swung toward Barry from out of his pocket and jammed a stun gun into Barry's side, sending a sharp, burning current through the Flash's body.

Barry cried out in pain as he felt his body lock up on him and he crumpled to the ground, the gun falling harmlessly from his hand. How had he been so stupid?! He'd know Snart was up to something, but he still tried to believe him anyway. What kind of an idiot was he for thinking he could trust Snart for even one second?

"I think that call will have to wait, Scarlett," said Snart smugly, "I think you're going to be our guest for a little bit longer…" Snart retrieved his and Rory's gun from Barry who could only glare at Snart, his body still spasming from the shock. Snart merely gave Barry a grin and pressed the stun gun to Barry's neck. Pain once again filled Barry's body and he screamed. The pain lasted less than a second before Barry's world went mercifully black.

* * *

Snart stood, a smug smile still plastered across his face as he nudged the unconscious form of Barry Allen, only too pleased with himself. That had worked better than he thought it would.

Mick stood, approaching Snart and the Flash. "So the runt's really the Flash?"

"Yes, he is," said Snart, "And he's going to regret trying to escape. Help me carry him down to the basement."

"What for?" asked Mick suspiciously.

"Because. I have a meat locker, a pair of handcuffs, a stun gun, and a nearly powerless Flash." Snart looked at Barry, remembering the way his face contorted his nearly angelic features when he was screaming in pain. Yes, he was going to enjoy this. "Time to put the Flash on ice…"


	8. Chapter 8

**_A/N: Wow this took forever to finish! I was going to post a chapter earlier this week, but then decided that instead of posting a single, shorter chapter and then a longer one later that I'd post it all as one chapter. Yes, it elongated the wait (which was also largely because of finals and move out week, sorry folks.), but I hope it was worth it. Thank you for your patience._**

**_Without further ado, here is Chapter 8 of _****Sick Day****_._**

**_-BG_**

* * *

_Previously on _Sick Day_:_

_Snart stood, a smug smile still plastered across his face as he nudged the unconscious form of Barry Allen, only too pleased with himself. That had worked better than he thought it would._

_Mick stood, approaching Snart and the Flash. "So the runt's really the Flash?"_

_"Yes, he is," said Snart, "And he's going to regret trying to escape. Help me carry him down to the basement."_

_"What for?" asked Mick suspiciously._

_"Because. I have a meat locker, a pair of handcuffs, a stun gun, and a nearly powerless Flash." Snart looked at Barry, remembering the way his face contorted his nearly angelic features when he was screaming in pain. Yes, he was going to enjoy this. "Time to put the Flash on ice…"_

* * *

**Now...**

Barry came to slowly. The first sensation that registered was the shocking cold that surrounded him and was slowly making its way through him. He felt tried moving, finding his wrists were cuffed somewhere above him. He opened his eyes, blinking in the cold, dry air. He couldn't help but shiver in fear at the sight before him. He was in a meat locker; the one Snart had been trying to get him into before. He looked down seeing that his feet were dangling in the air, the tips of his shoes just barely dragging across the icy floor. He glanced up, finding that his hands were not only cuffed above him, but also secured to a hook from the ceiling. He struggled briefly, trying to lift himself off without success, his feet too far from the floor to lift himself free and his hands cuffed too high and too tightly for him to leverage himself free.

Barry's eyes snapped forward as he heard a click and the door began to swing open. He fought the thrill of fear that ran through him, forcing himself to remain stoic as Snart entered the meat locker. He could see Lisa Snart and Mick Rory standing just outside the door, watching. He focused on Snart, glaring straight at the smug grin that was plastered on the criminal mastermind's face.

"Good to see you're awake, Scarlet. I was worried I'd given you too much." Barry tensed as Snart pulled out the stun gun again. "Lucky for you this thing has a few more setting lower than what I used on you."

"What do you want?" growled Barry, his breath clouding in the frigid air.

"I want answers. I said before that we'd have a chat. Now you have the choice of answering me without pain or…"

Barry let out a strangled yell as Snart jabbed the stun gun briefly into the skin just above his hip. God that hurt... He let out a soft hiss of pain before returning to glaring at Snart. "What was that for?"

"Trying to escape." Snart waved the stun gun in his face. "Now…are you going to answer my questions?"

"That depends on the question," said Barry flatly.

"Fair enough." Snart stood directly in front of Barry. "First question, why did your bruise disappear?"

Barry grimaced. It wasn't as if Snart hadn't already seen so there was no harm in saying anything. Still… He rolled his eyes skyward. "I have an accelerated healing factor. It's a side effect of my speed."

"Which was caused by the particle accelerator lightning bolt that hit you?" Barry merely nodded. "Fascinating."

"It can be…" Barry eyed the stun gun warily, keeping an eye out for its approach at any time.

"Now, what haven't you told us about metahumans?"

Barry winced. "What do you mean?"

"You say there are others like you. How many?"

"We don't know," said Barry honestly. Snart leaned forward to shock him. "I'm not lying. We still have no idea how many people might have been affected or how spread out the damage could have been."

Snart nodded, slowly edging back. "I see… How many so far then that you know of?"

Barry swallowed. "A dozen? Maybe more? I've lost count…"

"Tell me about them."

Barry clenched his jaw. "All you need to know is that some of them are dead.

Snart flinched slightly. "By your hand?"

"No. But that's not to say I wasn't involved," said Barry warningly.

Snart paused. "If that's supposed to scare me-"

"It's not," said Barry darkly, "It's a warning. People get hurt around me. The less you know about all of this, the better."

"You'll tell me what I want to know or I'll make sure that my face is the only thing you see for the rest of your life." Snart jabbed the stun gun into Barry's side, sending waves of agony through the hero's body as he screamed. "As long as you're in here, under these temperatures, you're not going anywhere unless I say so."

Barry let out a low groan, trying to shake off the pain. Well, it had been worth a shot. "Then it's going to be a while…"

"Too bad for you," said Snart without a hint of remorse, "How long do you think you can last before you decide to give in?"

"You'll see," said Barry, tensing as he prepared for the next shock. This was going to hurt… A lot… But there was no way he was going to tell Snart anything more. Not when lives depended on his silence. He took a deep breath, glaring at Snart with everything he had in him. "Give it your best shot, Snart."

"I intend to." The glint in Snart's eye told Barry that Snart had no qualms about following through with this.

Barry saw the stun gun near and shut his eyes, praying that someone found him soon.

* * *

Harrison Wells remained stoic as Captain Singh outlined their search pattern. Truth be told, Wells was bored as all Hell and this was getting him no closer to finding out where Barry actually was. It was clear that Snart and Rory were no longer in the city, leaving the only option being that they had either traveled to Keystone or had gone somewhere else nearby. Somewhere close enough to home, but far enough away that the CCPD wouldn't find them or Barry for a long while. The team had been better off back at the Lab where he could work his own magic.

Cisco and Caitlin stood next to Joe and Eddie, listening to Captain Singh intently. Iris and Barry's girlfriend, Linda Park, stood just outside the bullpen, both looking terribly worried, a feeling that Harrison could admit he too was feeling but for a far different reason. He needed Barry alive and in one piece in order for his plan to succeed. Snart was more likely to take Barry apart limb by limb if it meant revenging himself upon the Flash should he figure out Barry's alternate identity, something that Harrison did not doubt would happen considering Snart's intelligence.

Harrison's phone vibrated quietly at his hip and he slowly backed away from the assembly. He found a quiet corner and answered the phone. "Gideon, what is it?"

"Dr. Wells, you asked me to run a facial recognition search for Leonard Snart, Mick Rory and Lisa Snart. Lisa Snart was at STAR Labs three hours ago. She appears to have retrieved items from Cisco Ramon's laboratory that can be used to rebuild the Cold Gun and the Heat Gun."

Harrison growled softly, his free hand clenching into a fist. "Why didn't you see this sooner?"

"I was tasked to search for Leonard Snart and Mick Rory first and foremost. You said the search for Lisa Snart was if I could not find anything regarding her brother and Mick Rory."

Harrison let out a long sigh of frustration. He had prioritized searching for Leonard Snart and Mick Rory over the lesser threat that was Lisa Snart. Why had he even doubted that Lisa Snart would be involved in this? In any case, she had been and he had failed to account for it. "What else can you tell me about her whereabouts? Where did she go after she left the Lab?"

"She travelled out of Central City and through Keystone City. I lost her after she travelled out of the range of traffic cameras, but located her again via the STAR Labs satellite. She is currently at a farmhouse fifty three point seven miles outside of Keystone City."

Harrison let a flicker of a smile cross his face before resuming his mask. So… Lisa Snart's appearance was actually a blessing in disguise. She had inadvertently led him straight to where the Rogues were holding Barry. "Thank you, Gideon. I'll be returning shortly."

"Yes, Dr. Wells."

Harrison hung up and glanced at the assembly, noticing that Cisco was carefully making his way over to the doctor. The young engineer had a concerned look on his face as he approached Wells and Harrison quickly came up with a plausible excuse to make a hasty exit. "Cisco. Could you please keep me informed as to any progress that is made finding Barry? I have to take care of something…"

"Is something wrong. Doctor Wells?" A hint of innocent curiosity remained on Cisco's face and made Wells feel sick inside. For such an intelligent young man, Cisco could be almost endearingly naïve. He almost felt bad lying to the boy who had become almost a son to him. But, nothing was more important than Barry Allen and the fatherly feelings he held toward Cisco were only temporary. Still…

"I'm afraid that was the security company. Someone broke into the Lab while we've been gone."

Cisco's expression immediately became one of alarm. "Shit. It had to have been Cold and Heatwave."

Harrison gave the young man a slow nod. "I'm going to go back and see if the security footage holds anything useful for us. If it does, I'll have it sent over immediately. For now through, I need you and Caitlin to stay here while I handle this."

Cisco nodded. "Ok. I'll let Joe know after the Captain finishes the briefing. Call if you need us though."

Wells nodded. "I will. Thank you, Cisco." He gave the young man a small, faint smile before heading toward the elevator, which miraculously was already there on the floor and waiting. He turned once inside, Cisco sharing a look with him as the elevator doors shut. He wondered briefly if today was the day his charade ended and Cisco would no longer see him as he did now… Harrison shook the thought from his head. Cisco wasn't Barry Allen. Cisco wasn't the mission. He didn't matter before and he didn't now. All that mattered now was Barry Allen. All that mattered was getting home.

* * *

With his eyes squeezed tightly shut, Barry hadn't registered when Snart had stopped prodding him with the stun gun. His nerves were so numb from the continuous assault that he couldn't feel anything. Or it could have been from the chill of the meat locker. Either way, he wasn't about to open his eyes anytime soon. He wasn't going to show Snart how much pain he was really in.

"We'll leave him on ice for a little while." Barry's ears perked as he heard Snart's whispered conversation. The super criminal must have stepped out to address his team. "See if a few hours of cold and quite loosen his tongue."

"This is dangerous. We shouldn't even be letting the kid live. He's too powerful." Mick Rory's words caused Barry's eyes to snap open wide, eyeing the trio outside the door as subtly as he could.

"Not until I say so," said Snart, "We leave him on ice, keep him immobile and we won't have a problem with him. Besides, he's weak already from his illness. He's not going anywhere."

Barry watched as Snart stepped away from the meat locker door with his sister, the sound of twin footsteps climbing the basement stairs soon reaching the CSI's ears. He tensed, knowing Mick Rory was still outside the door. If he could just get free…

Rory suddenly entered the meat locker, grabbing Barry by the throat, effectively silencing the CSI before he could cry out for help. "I don't know what you did to Snart, but it's nothing good. He thinks we're better off keeping you alive. I think you're better off a cold dead corpse. So let's keep your death, between you and me."

Barry gasped as Rory released his throat suddenly, the pyromaniac stalking out of the meat locker and turning to him with a dark grin. The criminal turned to the control panel next to the door, dropping the temperature of the locker down to the lowest setting. Barry could instantly feel the temperature plummet, the cold sinking deeper into him. He opened his mouth to yell out in alarm, failing as his first intake of breath burned his lungs and throat and sent him into a coughing fit. The last thing Barry saw was Mick Rory's twisted grin before the door was slammed shut and the lock clicked into place, sealing him into the dark cold and the forbidding silence that would be his tomb.

* * *

Joe walked over to Cisco as soon as Captain Singh called the briefing to an end. "What happened? Where'd Wells go?"

"Dr. Wells said he got a call from our security company. Someone broke into the lab while we were gone. He thinks it could have been Snart or Rory so he went back to go check it out. He said he'd call if he had anything for us."

Joe nodded. Something seemed suspicious about Wells just suddenly disappearing like that, especially considering Well's near obsession with keeping Barry safe. Even if the intruders had been Snart and Rory… "Which security company do you use at the Lab? I want to call them and see if I can get a print out of when the break in occurred. Maybe that will give us a timeline for when Snart and Rory were there."

"I think we use the same security as you," said Cisco carefully, "Larkwood Security Solutions, or something like that. Dr. Wells has always handled the Lab's security stuff…"

"Got it." Joe wrote down the name of the company, heading to his desk to look up the company's phone number. "Is there anyway for you to pull up the security footage from here?"

Cisco frowned. "Why? Doctor Wells said that-"

"Cisco, if Snart was there, we need to know that right away. It could take a while for Wells to get the footage to us and that could be too late for Barry." Joe looked at the clock. There were maybe two hours until he was supposed to be at Ferris Air Facility. What he would do if Snart was there was still up for debate. If Snart would even show was the bigger question, especially if he'd somehow found out Barry's secret.

"Dr. Wells is the only one who has the ability to do that," said Cisco. He paused. "I could call Felicity and see if she could hack in for us…"

"Do that," said Joe, dialing the number for the security company, "I'll see if the security company can give us anything or if we'd need a warrant."

Cisco merely nodded, pulling out his phone to make his own call. "I'll be back in a minute." He froze. "Do you think she's heard about Barry's kidnapping?"

Joe groaned. "Probably not. You'll have to fill her in."

"Fantastic," said Cisco sarcastically as he turned away, his phone at his ear.

"Larkwood Security Solutions, this is Ned speaking, how may I help you?"

Joe's attention immediately returned to his own call. "Hi, my name is Detective Joe West. I work with the CCPD and I was wondering if I could confirm the report of there being a break in at STAR Labs."

"Um, I can't give you that information, Detective…"

Joe sighed. "I figured. Do you have a manager I may speak with? It's important I get an answer."

"Sure, I'll transfer you over… Please hold a moment…"

Joe waited patiently, watching Cisco out in the foyer. He was clearly in a very animated conversation with Felicity and, more likely than not, Oliver Queen himself.

"Detective West, this is Michael Sayville, Larkwood Security Solutions floor supervisor. I understand you're calling regarding a break-in at STAR Labs?"

"Yes," said Joe, "You see I'm part of the team looking for Barry Allen who was kidnapped earlier by Leonard Snart and Mick Rory. We believe that the break-in might be tied in because of Barry Allen's association with the Lab." There was silence on the line. "Hello?"

"Detective West, I'm afraid that without a warrant I can't give you any more information about STAR Lab's security, but I can tell you that there has been no such break-in reported either by our system or by anyone from STAR Labs. Where did you hear this information?"

Joe tensed. If there hadn't been a break-in…? "Apparently from an unreliable source. Thank you, Mr. Sayville. I appreciate the help."

"You're welcome, Detective. Good luck with your case."

Joe hung up the phone and looked at Cisco who had turned to him, a concerned look growing on his face as he saw the expression on Joe's. The kid said something into the phone and pulled it away from his ear, returning to Joe. "Cisco, are you sure Wells said that there had been in a break-in reported to him by the security company? Absolutely certain?"

"Yeah," said Cisco.

"They just told me there was no such break-in."

Cisco froze, trying to process this. "What?" A voice came from the phone in his hand and he returned it quickly to his ear. "Yeah, Oliver, I'm still here." He glanced at Joe, lowering the phone from his ear. "Joe, he wants to talk to you…"

Joe took the phone from the young man. "Mr. Queen."

"Detective. Are you certain that there was no break-in at STAR Labs?"

"That's what the security company told me. You can have Ms. Smoak check their systems if she can, but they told me that there was no break-in reported to them either by their systems or by a staff member of STAR Labs." Joe heard Oliver sigh. "What?"

"Detective, Diggle and I are going to make our way to Central City. Felicity is going to get you access to the security footage at STAR Labs and route it up to the computer in Barry's lab. Whatever you do, stay away from STAR Labs."

Joe hesitated. "Mr. Queen-"

"Joe." Joe paused at the Arrow using his first name. "I don't know why Dr. Wells lied to you, but you need to keep away from him and STAR Labs. We'll keep in touch with you, but please, do what I say. Your lives and Barry's may depend on it."

"Oliver-" Joe stared at the phone, startled to see that the billionaire vigilante hung up on him. He looked to Cisco. "We need to get up to Barry's lab. Get Caitlin and we'll head up. Felicity is going to try to patch the security footage from STAR Labs to us up there."

"Joe, what's going on?" asked Cisco.

Joe felt his heart sink at the look of fear and uncertainty in Cisco's eyes. The kid was too young to have to deal with all of this, especially if what both Oliver and the detective were thinking ended up being true. God, Wells was the boy's hero and mentor, not to mention Barry's and Caitlin's.

"I wish I knew, Cisco…" said Joe quietly, "I wish I knew…"

* * *

An hour past before Snart even thought to check on Barry Allen, expecting that the powerless speedster wouldn't cause him any trouble for a while yet. He headed down the stairs with a cup of hot coffee in his hands. Maybe he could get the speedster to open up a bit in exchange for the warm, energizing liquid. Maybe. If anything, he could taunt Barry with it; try to make him see reason.

Snart stopped halfway down the steps. Barry? When had he started calling his nemesis by his first name rather than by his moniker? He sighed. Damn. The kid had grown on him a bit before he'd found out his little secret. He'd grown on him a bit too much. That would have to be remedied.

Snart finished making his way down the stairs and walked confidently over to the meat locker, planning the whole conversation him his head. He reached to undo the lock, his hand freezing just before he could touch it. The lock as well as the rest of the door was covered in a thin layer of frost. It hadn't been there before when they'd brought Barry down and the temperature shouldn't have been nearly cold enough to cause that to happen. Snart's eyes instantly flicked over to the control panel of the meat locker, widening with both horror and shock. The coffee mug in his hand dropped to the floor, shattering on contact as Snart immediately turned up the temperature, knowing that it hadn't been nearly that cold when he had left with Lisa and Mick-

"Son of a bitch!" Snarled Snart, struggling to get the door open. "MICK! LISA! GET DOWN HERE!" The sound of running footsteps echoed on the ceiling above him and he growled softly. If Mick had killed Barry, there was going to be Hell to pay.

Snart gave one more tug at the lock, finally popping it free as Lisa and Mick joined him. "Lisa, get me a blanket, now!" His sister did as she was told without protest as he swung the door open, afraid of what he might find inside.

* * *

Barry struggled weakly against the handcuffs around his wrists for what might have been the millionth time, failing once more to get free. He had gone numb a long time ago, feeling his inner core temperature slowly dropping until even his breath was too cold to be seen. Not that he could even tell if he was breathing. If this was what it was like to be put into a cryogenic sleep, he wasn't a fan.

He forced his half-frozen eyelids open at the sound of the door opening, scarcely able to see Snart enter and barely registering that the criminal had taken him off the hook and dragged him out of the freezer. He felt something warm covering him and then he blacked out.

* * *

Snart looked at the Flash where he lay on the tile floor, beginning to shiver under the blanket even while unconscious. This was too far. He had wanted to keep the Flash immobile, not kill him. He quickly started rubbing Barry's limbs, trying to warm them up. Lisa knelt next to him, also trying to warm up the hero. It took them what seemed like hours to make any progress, Lisa making several trips to grab more blankets.

Mick stood off to the side, watching the proceedings with a smug grin and not even bothering to offer his assistance. Snart didn't even need to ask if Mick now if the pyro had turned the dial on purpose. The grin told him everything he needed to know.

Snart shot the pyromaniac a brief glare before returning his attentions to the Flash. Thankfully, ever so slowly, the Flash's color started coming back though he remained unconscious and continued to shiver. He must have been nearly frozen to the core by the time Snart had pulled him out. If he hadn't come down when he had…

"Lisa, we need something to bring up his core temperature," ordered Snart quickly, brushing away the dark thoughts that assailed him. Lisa merely nodded and left, returning moments later with an electric blanket and a heating pack which they quickly wrapped around the Flash's torso. After another agonizing stretch of minutes, Barry stopped shivering and his eyes began to flicker open. He was alive. Good. Now to take care of business…

Snart whirled on Mick, pinning the pyro against the wall and letting him know his rage. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! I WANTED HIM IMMOBILIZED, NOT MURDERED!"

"Why not?!" snapped Mick, growling in Snart's face, "All you've ever said you wanted to do since you met the Flash is kill him! Now you just want to keep him around like some sort of trophy, a trophy that can still fight back!" He shoved Snart off him. "You've grown soft over him. You got to know him too well before you realized that he was your enemy and now you can't get it up to kill him."

Snart spared a brief glance at Barry who was watching the proceedings silently, clearly confused and disoriented. He looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it, settling for giving Snart a nod of thanks.

"We'll continue this in a moment, Mick…" Snart looked to Lisa, his expression grim. "Lisa, take Barry back upstairs and keep working on warming him up. I'll be up soon…"

"Sure thing." Lisa slipped an arm under Barry's shoulders, helping him sit up. "Barry, I need you to hang onto the heating pack as we walk, ok?"

Barry merely gave her a nod, grasping the heating pad that was over his chest weakly as Lisa helped him to stand. Lisa leaned him up against the wall as she grabbed up a couple of the blankets before handing them to Barry. She guided him to the stairs, helping him make his way up. As he reached the top, Snart heard him break down in a long coughing fit. So much for Barry getting over his cold…

Snart waited until the fit seemed to have stopped and Lisa shut the door before turning back to Mick whose face was plastered with a dark grin. "Mick…"

"I'd do it again," said Mick firmly, "Except next time, I'm going to light him on fire instead. See how he likes it when things get a little too hot for him-"

Snart landed a punch to Mick's jaw, sending the pyromaniac stumbling backwards. "You'll do no such thing. Not while I'm around."

Mick rubbed his jaw, his eyes blazing. "Guess we should change that then."

Snart scarcely had a moment to dodge as Mick attacked. Snart quickly lashed out, knocking Mick back again with another solid hit to the man's jaw.

Snart shrugging off his parka before Mick could attack again. It was cumbersome now. Mick was strong and able to take a beating. However, he was slow and bulky compared to Snart who, while he wasn't exactly on par with Mick's strength, had the advantage of speed, a slightly less stocky body figure and a focused tactical mind. None of that would do Snart any good though if he even let Mick get in a single punch.

Mick came lumbering at him with a cry of anger and Snart side stepped out of the way of his wild haymaker's swing, nailing Mick in the side with a punch to the man's ribs, just above his kidney. Mick stumbled, almost faltering, but stood quickly again to face Snart, attacking wildly once more. Snart merely blocked the next haymaker and settled for a punch to Mick's sternum before trapping Mick's arm and giving it a sharp twist. The sound of Mick's scream as the bones in his forearm cracked was almost music to Snart's ears as he kicked the back of Mick's knee and sent the pyro to the floor with Snart on top of him, pinning Mick and his broken arm expertly.

"Now," said Snart slowly, "That's enough, Mick. You're going to calm down and you're going to think about what you just did."

"Think about what I just did?" barked Mick with an agonized laugh, "Can you even hear yourself right now, Snart? You've gone soft for the kid."

"That's highly unlikely," said Snart slowly.

Mick snorted beneath him. "Doesn't sound like you believe it either."

Snart sighed, releasing Mick's arm as he got off the pyromaniac. Mick stood, holding his arm and glaring at Snart. "…you're right." Mick snorted again and Snart rolled his eyes. "But the fact remains that we will keep the Flash alive."

"You're going to regret that Snart…" said Mick, "That kid is too dangerous to live."

"I'm not so worried about the Flash," said Snart, "I'm more worried about what follows him."

Mick paused for a moment and then grunted in agreement. "You're thinking about the cameras…"

"And the Reverse Flash," said Snart, "I doubt our escape here has done much to hinder his obsession with the Flash."

"He'll be looking for the Flash," said Mick.

Snart nodded. "Which is why we need to keep the Flash alive. Think about it. If the Reverse Flash does find us, we're going to need the Flash to stop him. Besides, I have a feeling the Reverse Flash would most certainly kill us if we were to kill the Flash."

Mick sighed. "Sometimes I hate working with you, Snart."

Snart frowned. "Why…?"

"Because you're usually right about everything."

Snart scoffed, amused. "Yeah, I usually am. That's why you put up with me. Someone's got to make some sort of order out of your chaos."

"Fire and ice," quipped a familiar voice. The duo turned to see Lisa at the bottom of the stairs. "The Flash passed out again. I put him on the couch…"

"Good." Snart turned to Mick. "No killing, got it?"

Mick nodded with a grunt of annoyed acceptance. "No killing. For now."

Snart nodded back, grabbing his parka up off of the floor and heading up the stairs past his sister. He needed time to think.

* * *

Barry woke slowly to the distinct smell of hot, fresh coffee wafting past his nose. He opened his eyes gradually, finding his eyelids quite heavy. The first thing he noticed as his vision came into focus was that he had been moved to the sitting room. The second thing was sight of a parka-less Leonard Snart sitting in a chair in front of him, a cup of coffee in his hand.

"What...what happened?" Barry forced himself to lift his head, realizing then that he was sprawled out on the couch with his hands still cuffed in front of him. He groaned, sitting up gradually as his body reacted sluggishly to his brain's commands.

"Mick tried to kill you," said Snart simply. He handed Barry the cup of coffee, which the speedster took warily. "You're lucky I went down to check on you and found out what he'd done."

Barry took a sip of the coffee, letting the hot and bitter liquid burn his insides, warming him. He gave Snart a grateful nod. "Thanks, I guess…" He paused. "You could have let me die, but you didn't."

"Oh, believe me, Barry Allen, when I say that I should have killed you a long time ago," said Snart flatly. Barry tensed slightly, some small part of his brain readying him in case he needed to defend himself. "Relax, kid. I wouldn't have just saved you down there if I just planned on killing you now…"

Barry relaxed slightly, taking another slow sip of the coffee. "…why not?"

"That's the question of the hour, isn't it?" Snart leaned back in the chair, folding his arms across his chest. Barry looked at Snart carefully, surprised to see a perplexed expression etched on the criminal's face. "I don't get that it is with you, Scarlet… I should have killed you the moment I found out who you really were. At least, that's what I would have done a few months ago."

"But not now," said Barry to which Snart gave a slight nod. Barry looked down, staring quietly into his coffee. The silence stretched on and he began tapping the side of the cup and watching the ripples. Somehow, it soothed the anxiety that was building in his chest with every second longer that the silence lingered.

"Why?" asked Snart finally, "Why don't I want to kill you?"

Barry shrugged. "Well it's not because we're friends." He lifted up a hand, displaying the handcuff around his wrist.

Snart snorted, smirking faintly. "Far from it."

"But…" Barry hesitated. "We're not enemies in the normal definition of the word."

"Nothing about this is normal, Scarlet" Snart grimaced.

"Understatement of the century," said Barry. He took another sip of coffee, giving himself a moment to think. "We're more like…rivals, foes if you want me to compare all of this to some sort of comic book story. Like…like Professor X and Magneto." He looked at Snart who was looking at him, clearly amused. "…I'm going full blown nerd, aren't I?"

"That's one way to put it," said Snart. He paused. "But I understand what you're trying to say. You and I are both very similar and very different in many ways."

"We both have dads in prison," said Barry.

"Mine was an abusive liar and yours was a wrongly convicted saint," commented Snart.

"I work for the law and you work against it," added Barry.

"We both are prepared to do whatever it takes to protect our family."

"I'm book smart and you're street smart. Barry backtracked quickly at a look from Snart. "But that's not to say that we're not both pretty well versed in book smarts and street smarts."

"You have your team. I have mine."

Barry shook his head. This was just too weird. "The third time we faced off, you said that I helped you up your game…"

"And the next time, you proved that I made you up yours," said Snart.

"That…" Barry's word caught in his throat, forcing him to take a moment and collect himself. "That wasn't just you… The Reverse Flash had a lot to do with that too."

Snart looked Barry over. "…he really killed your mother?"

Barry nodded slowly. "Yeah… He did… I just have to figure out a way to prove it now and get my dad out of prison…"

Snart gave a slight nod of acknowledgement, lapsing into silence of a brief moment. "…so what are we going to to…?"

"I honestly don't know," said Barry. He stared down at his hands, letting out a sigh. "…and I honestly don't want to die if that makes any difference..."

"It does."

The two lapsed into silence once again, Barry quietly finishing off his coffee and Snart sitting, clearly deep in thought.

"Tell me, Barry, what's your opinion of fate?" Snart asked slowly.

Barry frowned, giving Snart a confused look, the question entirely unexpected. "Fate? Like, destiny and what not?"

"What other fate is there?" said Snart with an edge of impatience.

Barry sighed. Oddly enough, he wished briefly that he had something a bit stronger than coffee to drink right now even if he knew the alcohol would have no effect what so ever. This was not a conversation he wanted to have sober and definitely not a conversation he planned to have with one of his worst enemies, if that's what Snart even was to him anymore.

"Well, Scarlet?"

"I think…" Barry sighed again, gathering his thoughts. "I think fate sucks… But it exists… And it's not something that is changed easily." Snart nodded, clearly mulling over Barry's words. "Why do you ask?"

"Because, Barry Allen, as much as I want to kill you, I find I don't. For some reason, I don't want to." Snart let out a soft growl of frustration. "Something tells me that you and I were meant to run into each other, but we were never supposed to actually come to know each other this way… At least, not this soon…"

Barry snorted. "You mean, like sometime in the future we're supposed to be…what? Allies?"

"Maybe." Snart sighed. "Before I realized you were the Flash, I was thinking…how in some other world, in some other time we probably would have been…"

"Friends?" suggested Barry, receiving a nod in return, "…I could see it. Odd as it seems under the current circumstances, I could see it having happened."

"But not in this world. Not in this time." Barry nodded in agreement with Snart's statement. "So what do we do now?"

"I think the first question is, do you plan on keeping me here forever, or are you going to let me go?" said Barry.

"Yes." Barry stared at Snart, startled by his response. "Not just yet though…"

"I figured," mumbled Barry earning a smirk from Snart.

"We need to set some ground rules if we're going to keep up our rivalry now," said Snart.

"Number one, you keep my friends and family out of this," said Barry, "You've already gone after Caitlin. Once was enough. I don't want her, Joe, Cisco, Iris or anyone else involved with this."

"On one condition," said Snart, "If my sister is helping me on a job, you don't touch her. Ever."

"What if it's to save her life?" asked Barry.

"If she's in danger, you have my full permission to do whatever you have to to keep her safe," said Snart.

"Deal," said Barry, "Number two, you can't tell anyone else my identity. Ever."

"Just so long as you never tuck Mick, my sister or myself wherever you've been hiding these metahumans you said you've beaten." Barry tried to hide his surprise, failing. "You said that you defeated them and since I haven't seen them running around the city, you have to be keeping them somewhere."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're scary smart?" said Barry.

"It's been known to happen…" Snart said almost smugly, "So, number three: we let you do your thing as long as you let us do ours."

"What does that mean?" asked Barry.

"This game of ours. We both know I'm not going to change my ways anytime soon and the same goes for you. You'll always be a hero and I'll always be a thief. You'll keep trying to stop me and I'll keep wiping the floor with your ass."

"Is that a challenge?" said Barry, oddly amused.

"It could be."

Barry snorted. "Fine... Number four: no one else dies. Like I said, you're scary smart. You're also good at what you do. You're both smart enough and good enough at what you do that you don't need to kill anyone to get what you want."

Snart gave a begrudging shrug. "That's true…"

"If number five is an arrangement for future hook ups at a seedy motel, I call being on top." Both Snart and Barry whirled, spotting Lisa standing in the doorway.

Snart let out an exasperated sigh, sending Barry an apologetic look. "Lisa, how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough. I came to see if Barry needed more coffee." Lisa entered, taking the empty cup from Barry's hands.

"Uh, I'm good," said Barry warily, especially as Lisa sat next to him on the couch. He slid over as far as he could away from her, flushing. She merely smiled, her eyes glimmering with amusement as she slid closer.

"Lisa…" said Snart warningly.

"Just playing with him," said Lisa, her smile teasing.

Snart rolled his eyes and turned to Barry. "Additional rule to number one, if she touches you without your permission, you're not a dead man."

"Oh thank God…" said Barry a little too loudly, earning a chuckle from the siblings. He felt his cheeks turn a darker shade of red. "Um, number five…?"

"Number five: if we have a mutual enemy, someone we're both against, we fight them and not each other."

Barry frowned, thinking this one over. It seemed such a strange rule to mention even… Then it clicked. The cameras earlier. Fleeing from the West House. Hiding out here. A reason Snart wanted him alive that made complete sense with his current attitude. "The Reverse Flash… You think he's going to come after you now."

Snart nodded. "As much as I hate to say it, I have a feeling I pissed him off taking you. And if I am right, particularly about those cameras in Detective West's house being placed there by the Reverse Flash, he's obsessed with you, more so that I was with finding out more about you."

"Your obsession was because you were looking for a tactical advantage or to find out who I was," admitted Barry, though slightly creeped out over Snart's admission to having obsessed over his alter ego. He took a deep breath. "The Reverse Flash… He's…"

"A whole new level of creepy," said Lisa. Barry nodded in agreement. "So what do we do?"

Barry frowned, deep in thought. This was way past crazy. Here he was, sitting and having a cordial conversation with two of his enemies, plotting how to fight his greatest enemy. He was siding with a lesser evil, an evil he could trust (to a certain extent), over a greater evil which he couldn't understand and doubted he would ever begin to fathom.

Barry took a deep breath. Yes, this was dangerous, but what other choice did he have? He could run out of there right now if he wanted to, his connection to his powers clear as day for the moment. But if he ran out and the Reverse Flash showed up to eliminate Snart and his Rogues…? Barry would never be able to live with himself if he left them to die. He was in and there was only one way to prove it.

Barry looked down at the handcuffs on his wrists and vibrated his hands, the cuffs popping open easily. He handed them to Snart who look them from him with a look of understanding, clearly realizing that while Barry's powers had returned, the speedster had not tried to escape again. Snart gave Barry a slight nod, the equivalent to a silent handshake, sealing their agreement.

Barry turned to Lisa, feeling his resolve harden with every passing second. "We get ready."


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: Ok, so I know it's been an eternity since I posted a chapter, but please don't be mad at me. Between my summer school course and life, I'd only had a small measure of time to devote to my stories, but I promise that I've been doing my very best to get back in the groove of things now that some of my summer chaos is over. Unfortunately, this story is a WIP so I'm writing everything as I go, same with **_**Hostage Situation****_, and that drags this out a lot longer than I'm sure most of you wanted. I admittedly wasn't sure how I wanted to proceed with this story, but I think I have my plot set now so there shouldn't be too many more delays._**

**_Anyhow, here's chapter 9 of _****Sick Day****_._**

**_-BG_**

* * *

"She should have gotten us in by now," said Cisco. He sat at Barry's computer, chewing nervously at a twizzler he had 'borrowed' from Barry's hidden candy stash. Unsurprisingly, it had taken the boy genius all of three minutes to find it.

Joe stood next to Cisco, waiting with Caitlin and Eddie for Felicity to send them the video feeds from STAR Labs. Oliver Queen had called a few minutes ago to say he and Diggle where already on their way and that Felicity was almost done accessing the footage. To be honest, Joe was worried what they might find.

"This is taking too long." Eddie paced the floor, clearly frustrated and not just because of the delay. Iris and Linda had accosted him before he could sneak up to the lab and he had had to make up a bullshit excuse to get away from them both. Needless to say, he was not looking forward to facing their collective wrath when he got back downstairs. "How much longer do you think it will take to get-?"

Barry's computer screen suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree and Caitlin and Eddie immediately joined Joe next to Cisco. The screen displayed live footage of the Cortex and main hallways at STAR Labs. The appearance had been abrupt, but it was what the footage displayed, however, that caused the four individuals in the room to freeze.

"Oh my God…" Eddie whispered. Joe merely nodded as the four of them continued to stare. There, walking into the Cortex was Harrison Wells, clad in a familiar yellow suit with the mask down.

"Impossible," whispered Caitlin.

Joe glanced toward Caitlin, feeling an inkling of sympathy for her and Cisco, the latter of which had yet to make a sound, his eyes still locked on the screen and his expression devastated. "I wish it were…" said Joe softly. He stepped away from the others, pulling out his phone and dialing the Captain's number.

"Joe, what is it?" The Captain sounded beyond exhausted.

"David, I need you to come up to Barry's lab. There's something you need to see. We have a serious problem."

"I'll be there in a moment. What is it, Joe?"

Joe let out a long sigh, turning to look back at the screen. "…it's Harrison Wells. Harrison Wells is the Reverse Flash and…I think he's going after Barry."

* * *

If Eobard had cared enough to look, he would have reacted appropriately to the sudden intrusion into the lab security by Felicity Smoak the moment Gideon detected the hack. If he had cared even more, he would have taken action upon realizing that someone was watching him and had discovered his true nature and intent. Today, however… Today, he could care less. After tonight, there would be no more games, no more hiding in the shadows, no more mystery. Just action and reaction. Pain and pleasure. Vengeance and victory.

Eobard turned to the computer. "Gideon, find the address of the farmhouse that the Snart's are holding the Flash and get me directions. I want the fastest route possible."

"Yes, Dr. Wells."

Eobard snorted. "Eobard Thawne will do again, Gideon. I won't be using the name of Harrison Wells any longer. It's time to set things in motion."

"Yes, Mr. Thawne. Would you like the address and the directions now or programmed into your suit?"

"The suit will be fine, Gideon. Feel free to download yourself back into the suit in the process. I have a feeling I'm going to need to keep you mobile."

"Yes, Mr. Thawne."

Eobard waited for Gideon to finish downloading back into the suit, feeling oddly calm for the first time in a long time. Today was the day. Today was the day he gave Barry something to really be afraid of.

* * *

"First things first, I have to let Joe know that I'm ok. We don't need him or the cops showing up and getting in the middle of this. It wouldn't just end up bad for them, but you guys as well," said Barry. He spared a glance toward Mick Rory as the pyromaniac snorted in disbelief. "What? You have a better plan?"

"Why should we even bother working with you?" Scoffed Rory, "If the Reverse Flash is anything like you, Red, he won't be a match for the combined powers of our weapons."

"And that's where you're wrong," said Barry calmly. He spared a brief glance at Lisa as she continued to help Mick Rory set and bandage his arm. How that had happened, he'd have to ask later. "The Reverse Flash is a lot faster and a lot stronger than I am. And unlike me, he lacks any morals. I doubt he would think twice before killing the three of you if it meant you were out of his way."

"Out of his way for getting to you," added Rory bitterly.

"Hey, I'm not saying that it isn't my fault that you guys are in this situation," snapped Barry, "If I thought I could reason with the Reverse Flash by turning myself over to him right now, I'd do it if it meant stopping him from trying to kill you all. But I know it won't. The man killed my mother and I don't doubt that he's killed anyone else that has stood in his way to get to me. So rather than try to distance myself from you, I'm going to help you fight him off."

"Touching," sneered Rory, "But why even bother? You said it yourself, he's faster and stronger than you."

"But not faster and stronger than the four of us working together," said Snart, "With our weapons and Barry's speed, we'll at least stand a chance against the Reverse Flash."

Rory looked between Barry and Snart in disbelief. "You're both mental. I say we hand the Flash here over to this Reverse Flash in exchange for our lives."

"You're welcome to try that," said Barry flatly, "But like I said, I doubt he'd just let the three of you go after taking me. He's a demented psychopath. I know that much."

"So if the first thing is that you need to contact Detective West, what's the next thing?" said Lisa, drawing them back to the original conversation as she finally finished bandaging Mick Rory's arm.

"I need to get my speed back to full strength," said Barry, "From what I can tell right now, I'm running at about five percent of my usually power between my illness, the torture…" Barry shot both Snart and Rory a look at this. "…and the rest of this insanity."

"And how do we recharge your batteries?" Said Rory with a heavy layer of sarcasm, "Do you need another jolt from the stun gun?"

Barry shot the pyro an annoyed look, opening his mouth to retort only for Snart to interrupt him.

"Food," said Snart. Lisa and Rory glanced at him, confused. "The sandwich Lisa gave him earlier. I remember that he looked a little less pale after that." Snart glanced at Barry. "A little. Considering you're paler than even I am."

"Ha," said Barry, the laugh forced, "Very funny… But you're right. With my high metabolism, I need way more food than a normal person in order to retain my superspeed and not pass out."

"So in other words, you need another sandwich." Lisa gave Barry a look of bemusement and Barry felt his cheeks turn bright red.

"Lisa… Stop teasing the kid…" Said Snart, "We'll worry about that in a minute… Now what else?"

"We need to be ready for anything," Said Barry, "I have no idea what to expect from the Reverse Flash. I mean, I don't even know what he looks like underneath the mask. He could walk up to the front door and we wouldn't even know it was him."

Snart nodded to Barry and turned back to Lisa and Rory. "…you guys ok with this?"

"Ok with this?" said Rory, his voice rising and his eyes blazing, "I think you're an idiot, Snart!"

Barry winced and glanced at Lisa who merely sighed and rolled her eyes. "Let's let them talk this out again, Barry. We can get you a phone to call Detective West."

"Sounds good," said Barry. The two stood, heading for the kitchen while Snart and Rory continued to glare at each other. The moment they were out of the room, the two men began bickering, Mick in his loud and angry bellow and Snart in his softer, but firmer snark.

"Here." Lisa handed Barry a cell phone. "It's a burner."

"Thank you." Barry took the phone, hesitating before giving Lisa an apologetic look. "…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"This wasn't your fault," said Lisa.

"It feels like it." Barry sighed. "If I hadn't fought your brother in the first place, then none of this would be happening."

"Wow… When you guilt trip, you guilt trip hard," said Lisa with a bitter laugh.

"No! I-" Barry grimaced, particularly as Lisa gave him a knowing look. "Is it really that bad?"

"Oh, it's bad. Very bad." Lisa ruffled Barry's hair and turned away. "Not everything is your fault. You don't need to put the weight of the world on your shoulders. You're still too young for that

"…thanks…?" Barry stared at Lisa. For being a criminal and Leonard Snart's sister, she peaked his curiosity on so many levels. Lisa merely chuckled again and strolled over to the fridge, pulling out a sandwich and handing it to him. Barry took it, slowly taking a bite out of it as he watched Lisa lean up against the counter.

"Len makes his own decisions and his own mistakes. You? You just happened to cross paths with him and he ended up starting this game with you. So all of this? Definitely Len's fault. Though… You might be able to guilt trip him by saying it was your fault. Might take his ego down a notch and calm down Mick too..."

"Right... Like I could calm him down." Barry snorted and finished off the sandwich. "…what happened to his arm anyhow?"

"He and Len had a fight after we got you out of the meat locker. Len wasn't too happy that Mick tried to kill you and Mick wasn't too happy that we saved you. Len won obviously and the two of them talked things out a bit. Mick's still not entirely onboard with all of this though."

Another loud outburst could be heard from the sitting room and both Barry and Lisa winced. "So I've noticed," said Barry. He threw the sandwich wrapper away, sinking it into the kitchen trash with surprising accuracy. "Thanks… For saving me before. And for the sandwich."

Lisa merely nodded. "Better make that call of yours before Len and Mick start brawling again. Don't know what could happen."

Barry nodded, looking at the phone and dialing Joe's number. It rang several times before the call finally connected.

"Detective West."

Barry felt a wave of relief at the sound of his foster father's weary and frustrated voice. A part of him thought he might never hear it again. "Joe. It's me."

There was a quick gasp on the other end of the line and a moment of dead silence. "Barry?"

Barry felt a pang of grief at the overwhelming relief and apprehension in Joe's voice. "It's me, Joe. It's really me." Barry shot a glance at Lisa who was smiling at him, giving her a grateful nod. "I'm ok." Maybe things would work out for them after all.

* * *

To say Joe was on edge was the greatest understatement in the world, maybe the universe. Barry was still missing, held hostage by Leonard Snart and company (Felicity had informed them a few minutes ago that Leonard Snart's sister, Lisa, had apparently been to STAR Labs and stolen the Heat and Cold guns back) who could have discovered Barry's secret identity as the Flash by now for all anyone knew. The meeting time had passed hours ago and a report from the stakeout team located at the Ferris Air Facility said that Snart had been a no show. Besides that, Harrison Wells was apparently the Reverse Flash and knew something about where Barry was. In terms of where Barry was, Felicity had yet to discover that information as she continued to hack into STAR Labs' systems.

If there was one shred of good news, however, it was the fact that Oliver Queen was almost there, his flight supposedly only about ten minutes out from Central City. If there was one person Joe could trust to help them and to help Barry, it was Oliver Queen. Despite any misgivings he once had about the Emerald Archer's work, Joe knew he could trust Oliver Queen implicitly with Barry's life.

Joe's phone suddenly rang, causing everyone present (including Captain Singh who had joined them only minutes ago) in Barry's lab to jump. He glanced at the screen, seeing an unfamiliar number. He thought about ignoring it for a split second before deciding against it. If it was Snart changing plans or the Reverse Flash calling to talk to them, he needed to know. "Detective West."

"Joe, it's me."

Joe gasped sharply, his knees nearly buckled beneath him at the sound of Barry's voice. Barry's _calm_ voice. What was going on? "Barry?"

Unsurprisingly, that one word got everyone's attention, leaving a moment of stunned silence in its wake. Cisco whirling around sharply from the computer screen while Caitlin, Eddie and Captain Singh each took a step closer to the detective. Figuring they all need to hear this, Joe put the phone on speaker.

"It's me, Joe. It's really me." Barry paused momentarily. "I'm ok."

"Barry, what on Earth is happening?" Said Joe, trying to wrap his head around Barry being 'ok' after being kidnapped by Leonard Snart and Mick Rory and held hostage for the past sixteen hours.

"To be honest, it's a long story. Short version is that the Rogues know who I really am now, they made their feelings known about that, we talked somethings out and now we're in a sort of alliance."

"An alliance? What the Hell for, Barry?" said Cisco.

"Um… Well, you see…" Barry let out a long sigh. "You saw the camera at the house, right?"

"Of course we did, Allen." Captain Singh's voice was slightly terse, clearly wanting Barry to get to the point already.

Barry let out a soft curse. "…Captain Singh… You…"

"I know about your 'extracurricular activities,' as does Detective Thawne," said the Captain, "We'll discuss that at a later date, but right now I need you to focus and tell us what is going on."

Barry let out another long sigh. "Ok… So apparently that wasn't the only camera in the house. According to Snart and his expertise with surveillance, there were cameras all over the house and-"

"Barry, what do you mean there are cameras all over Joe's house? Why would you believe Snart anyway?" Said Caitlin.

A very feminine voice replied instead of Barry. "Because, my brother may be a thief, but he knows surveillance and he's almost never wrong."

Joe and the rest of the gang frowned at the woman's voice, leaving a semi-stunned silence over the line.

"Barry, who is that?" said Eddie, finally filling the void.

"Um, everyone, meet Lisa Snart. Lisa, meet everyone."

"Charmed, I'm sure," said Lisa Snart, "But let's get to the point, shall we? We suspect that the cameras were put there by the Reverse Flash and yes, we know about him. We think that he's going to come after us for taking Barry here. Len and Barry formed a temporary truce over the issue as Barry doesn't want to see us die and we don't very much want to die either."

The room went eerily still at Lisa's words, a dawning look spreading through the group. So that was how all the pieces fit together... No wonder Harrison Wells had given up on his long charade in favor of unveiling his real identity. Wells was going after Barry, the Snart's and Mick Rory. There was no doubt that Wells would destroy the Snart's and Mick Rory in order to get to Barry and do God knows what to Barry when his grisly work was done.

"Barry, you need to get out of there now. All of you," said Joe, "The Reverse Flash is already on his way to your location as we speak."

"What?!" Barry's voice was filled with panic. "Joe, what-?"

"Barry. There's something you need to know," said Eddie carefully, "Dr. Wells was acting strangely so Joe had Felicity hack into the STAR Labs cameras and…" Eddie turned to Joe, clearly not wanting to be the one to break the news to Barry. To destroy Barry's faith in Harrison Wells, his trust in his idol and mentor.

"Harrison Wells is the Reverse Flash," said Captain Singh, "And he's coming for you."

There was a long stunned silence over the other line, Barry clearly trying to process this. "…no… No, that's impossible. I don't believe you. Dr. Wells can't be the Reverse Flash. He couldn't have-"

"Barry." Cisco's voice stopped Barry from continuing his babbling. "They aren't lying. We all saw him. He was in the Reverse Flash suit. Hell, he was _standing_ in the middle of the Cortex in the Reverse Flash suit and we all saw him race out of there. I…I wouldn't have believed it either, man, but we all saw it. Dr. Wells is the Reverse Flash and he is coming for you guys, if he's not already there. You need to move. Like, now."

"You mean Dr. Wells, a man who the world thinks is in a wheelchair for the rest of his life and who has been obviously helping Barry as the Flash, is actually the Reverse Flash? _The_ Reverse Flash that killed Barry's mother?" Said Lisa. She sounded flabbergasted, but she didn't sound skeptical. "You said he's already on his way here?"

"Yes," said Cisco, "And you guys need to get out of there. Now."

"I'll tell Len. He needs to know before-"

A loud bang suddenly was heard over the phone, causing everyone to practically leap toward Joe's phone. The sounds of a fight could be heard moments later and a terrified yell from Lisa Snart.

"SHIT! He's here! He's already-" The team stood frozen as they heard the phone clatter to the floor. "No! Leave him alone!" A sound like a sonic boom ripped through the airwaves over the phone and Caitlin shared an alarmed look with Cisco who immediately set to tracing the phone, tag teaming with Felicity to pin point the exact coordinates as he filled her in on what had happened.

Joe could only stand there, staring at his phone, feeling beyond helpless as the sounds of fighting continued to filter out of the speaker. A movement out of the corner of his eye made him turn, his heart nearly stopping cold at the sight of Iris and Linda, their eyes fearful, as they stood frozen in the doorway of the lab. "Oh God no…"

* * *

Leonard Snart had been in the middle of bickering with Mick still when there came a knock at the door. The duo immediately fell silent, the only sound being that of the faint voices of Barry and Lisa talking in the kitchen. Snart grabbed up his Cold Gun, Mick grabbing up his own weapon though somewhat awkwardly with his bandaged arm. He nodded to Mick and Mick nodded back. Despite their dispute seconds before, they had bigger problems now.

"Cover me." Mick nodded again, aiming his weapon for the door as Snart approached it, glancing through the peephole. He had a split second to react to the sight of a maliciously grinning Harrison Wells before the door was suddenly propelled inwards. Snart was blown backwards from the force and he hit the floor hard, his Cold Gun dislodging from his grasp and going skittering across the floor.

Mick immediate attacked the figure of Harrison Wells who wore a startlingly familiar and yet unfamiliar yellow suit that was a dark mirror to Barry's own suit. The man dodged the flames with incredible speed, knocking Mick's weapon away and hurling him at Lisa who had just stepped in the room. The two tumbled to the floor, both cursing loudly.

Harrison Wells was almost immediately looming over Snart who tried to stand only for Wells to shove him back down and kneel on his stomach, effectively pinning Len down. Wells' psychopathic grin and glowing red eyes all that Len needed to see to feel true fear for the first time in a very, very long time. Harrison Wells was the Reverse Flash. This was the Reverse Flash and he was about to die. "Wells…"

Harrison Wells smiled a little wider. "Mr. Snart," said Wells in a deep and distorted voice as he donned his mask. Wells gripped Snart firmly by the throat before slowly lowing a vibrating hand toward Snart's chest. "It's time to die now."

Len squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to get free. This freak was going to kill him and then Lisa and then Mick and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it.

"No! Leave him alone!"

Leonard Snart opened his eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: Right, so this story is not dead and I fully intend to finish it. Unfortunately, life, other stories and writers block have been getting in my way up until now, but I have this next chapter ironed out at most of the next so I feel comfortable posting this again. I really am sorry for the long wait, but I wanted to make sure I did this right, not just for all of you, but for me as well. Not to sound narcissistic or anything, but I do love my own stories, both in terms of reading them and writing them.**_

_**Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, read, and/or reviewed this story. I sincerely apologize again for the wait and I thank you all for sticking with this through my creative rough patch.**_

_**Right, so without further ado, Chapter 10 of **_**Sick Day**_**.**_

_**-BG**_

_**PS As for the ending, please do not hate me.**_

* * *

_Previously on _Sick Day_:_

Leonard Snart had been in the middle of bickering with Mick still when there came a knock at the door. The duo immediately fell silent, the only sound being that of the faint voices of Barry and Lisa talking in the kitchen. Snart grabbed up his Cold Gun, Mick grabbing up his own weapon though somewhat awkwardly with his bandaged arm. He nodded to Mick and Mick nodded back. Despite their dispute seconds before, they had bigger problems now.

"Cover me." Mick nodded again, aiming his weapon for the door as Snart approached it, glancing through the peephole. He had a split second to react to the sight of a maliciously grinning Harrison Wells before the door was suddenly propelled inwards. Snart was blown backwards from the force and he hit the floor hard, his Cold Gun dislodging from his grasp and going skittering across the floor.

Mick immediate attacked the figure of Harrison Wells who wore a startlingly familiar and yet unfamiliar yellow suit that was a dark mirror to Barry's own suit. The man dodged the flames with incredible speed, knocking Mick's weapon away and hurling him at Lisa who had just stepped in the room. The two tumbled to the floor, both cursing loudly.

Harrison Wells was almost immediately looming over Snart who tried to stand only for Wells to shove him back down and kneel on his stomach, effectively pinning Len down. Wells' psychopathic grin and glowing red eyes all that Len needed to see to feel true fear for the first time in a very, very long time. Harrison Wells was the Reverse Flash. This was the Reverse Flash and he was about to die. "Wells…"

Harrison Wells smiled a little wider. "Mr. Snart," said Wells in a deep and distorted voice as he donned his mask. Wells gripped Snart firmly by the throat before slowly lowing a vibrating hand toward Snart's chest. "It's time to die now."

Len squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to get free. This freak was going to kill him and then Lisa and then Mick and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it.

"No! Leave him alone!"

Leonard Snart opened his eyes.

* * *

_Now:_

Something snapped inside Barry as he spotted Harrison Wells and his hand descending towards Leonard Snart's chest, time slowing around him. This was the monster who had pretended to be his friend and mentor, the monster who had killed his mother in cold blood and framed his father. This was the monster who had ripped his family and his life apart, the monster who had threatened Iris, Joe, Caitlin and Cisco. The monster who now threatened to destroy Leonard Snart and the family the master criminal had built for himself.

Barry steeled himself and raced forward. No one else would die at the hands of the Reverse Flash tonight or ever more. No one would ever have to lose their family like he had ever again.

* * *

"No! Leave him alone!" Barry suddenly barreled into the Reverse Flash just before the villain's hand could pass through Len's chest. The two speedsters tumbled away from the stunned criminal, both locked in battle as they crashed through the wall and out into the front yard.

Len stood shakily, watching as the two metahumans battled across the yard, a ball of yellow and red lightning all that he could see. That had been far too close. He glanced to the side to see Mick and Lisa making their way over to him. Lisa handed him the Cold Gun before helping Mick get a grasp on his Heat Gun and retrieving her own weapon. Len gave his sister and Mick a slight nod and the trio advanced towards the battle between the two speedsters. Enemies or not, for better or for worse, they were united now against the Reverse Flash. They had to be.

The Reverse Flash suddenly threw Barry off and into the house, leaving himself wide open for the smallest of moments. Len Immediately fired, striking the Reverse Flash once in the side. Mick fired off a shot himself a mere instant afterward, but the Reverse Flash was already moving and Mick's shot barely glanced the corrupt speedster as he charged at the Rogue trio.

Barry slammed into the man again, blindsiding him and sending him careening away once more. "Enough! Stay away from them, Wells!"

The Reverse Flash let out a harsh chuckle and Len couldn't help but grip his weapon a little tighter. "You and your allies are no match for me, Barry. I will destroy them before you can even try to stop me and then you and I can get back to the way it should have always been. Just you and me."

"Over my dead body," replied Barry.

"And mine," said Len. He stepped next to Barry, his weapon aimed at Wells, "Together then, Allen?"

"Together," said Barry bitterly, his hands clenched into fists.

"How touching," snarled Wells, "The Flash and Captain Cold. Allied against me. Now this is something I did not imagine could ever happen in any world… At least, not this soon."

"What can I say? The enemy of my enemy is my friend," said Len coolly.

"Not for much longer I'm afraid," said Wells. He started to step forward only for two arrows to suddenly slam into the villain's left shoulder blade, eliciting a yell of agony from Wells.

Len looked around for the source only to spot Barry grinning and looking up in the sky. Len followed his gaze. There, parachuting down toward them was the Arrow, the archer notching another as he flew down toward him. He landed a short ways off, Wells glaring at him as he removed the parachute. "Harrison Wells," came the distorted voice, "Stand down."

"Mr. Queen," said Wells bitterly, turning to face the archer, "What a delightful surprise…"

Len just stared at the Arrow, the lights from the house illuminating the man's face. There was no way that the Starling City vigilante could possibly be…

The Arrow flipped off his hood, allowing Len to see the face of Oliver Queen. He looked to Len, his gaze warning, but not sinister. His attention almost immediately diverted back to Wells, keeping his aim directly at the dark speedster. "Why are you doing this, Wells? Why this whole charade? Why drop it now?"

"An array of excellent questions," said Wells, "None of which I shall answer."

The Arrow merely glanced toward Barry, holding out a bag to the speedster. "Cisco sent this to the cave a while back. In case you needed a spare when you were…visiting."

Barry was gone and back in a split second, tossing the empty bag from his hand, now clad in the familiar crimson of the Flash suit. "Thanks."

Wells seemed to smile. "Fantastic. Now we can begin."

Len fired before the last syllable escaped Wells' mouth, but the man was already moving and so was Barry. The two slammed together in a ball of crimson and gold, the duo once more locked together in battle.

"Barry, move!" Snapped the Arrow, his bow and arrow carefully following every movement of the battling speedsters.

Len followed the archer's lead, tracking the lightning ball with his own weapon. If Barry moved out of the way for even a second, Len had to be ready to fire. There was no telling what Wells would do now if they gave him even the slightest bit of room. And Len sure as Hell wasn't going to give Wells that chance if he could help it.

* * *

Barry fought with all the strength in his body as he grappled with the Reverse Flash, getting in far fewer punches than he was taking. He vaguely heard Oliver call out for him to move, to give him an open shot at the Reverse Flash, only for the psychotic speedster to tighten his grip on Barry's suit and send them both tumbling away from the archer.

"You and I both know that you're not ready for this, _Flash_," sneered Wells, landing a solid punch to Barry's side, the scarlet clad speedster feeling three of his ribs break with serval horribly audible pops. Barry, however, merely grabbed the other man's suit and held on tight as he laid into Wells' face, feeling the satisfying crack of the man's nose under his fist. The satisfaction was short lived however as Wells began attacking the hero even more fiercely than before, clocking Barry across his jaw and repeatedly slamming his fists into Barry's stomach. "You're not strong enough, Barry. You're too weak to protect them. Just like you were when I killed your mother."

Barry felt his blood turn to fire in his veins, rage coursing through him. "Wrong move, Wells!" Barry grabbed his former mentor by his suit and cowl, leveraging himself despite the pain in his ribs to hurl the psychotic speedster across the yard and into the wall of the house, the force of Wells' impact sending brick shards everywhere.

The moment Wells slammed into the wall, Leonard Snart and Oliver fired, Oliver's arrow pinning Wells' right hand to the wall while Snart fired relentlessly, encasing most of Wells' body in ice.

As the dust settled, Wells let out a dark, but sickeningly chuckle, sending a chill down Barry's spine. "Well aren't you three quite the tag team?" The psychotic speedster tried shifting in his encasing, visibly wincing. "Are you going to kill me now, Barry? Stop me from killing anyone ever again? Stop me from ripping out Leonard Snart's heart? Stop me from driving a knife through his sister's chest like I did your mother?"

Barry growled, striding over to stand face-to-face with his former friend and mentor, the monster who had murdered his mother and framed his father. "You don't know how much I want to kill you right now."

"Oh, I do," said Wells cryptically, "But..."

"But I'm not you," said Barry flatly, "I'm not a murderer or a two faced friend. You're going to pay for your crimes and I'm going to see that my parents receive the proper justice for your crimes. And I'm going to make sure you never destroy anyone's life ever again."

"You expect me to confess for you, eh, Barry? To put it on the record?" said Wells teasingly.

"But you already did confess," stated Barry, "Twice." He tapped his com, knowing that his friends had been listening in the whole time. "Cisco, please tell me you got that?"

"Loud and clear, Barry," said Cisco, "We all heard it."

"I can have it to the DA within the hour," said Captain Singh.

Barry let out a sigh of relief, shooting a relieved look toward Oliver who had come to stand behind him. It was over. They'd taken down Wells.

"Um, Barry?" Eddie's hesitant voice came over the com. "There's a couple of people here who might need to be filled in when you get back…"

Barry felt himself pale. "Um, who exactly are you talking about…?"

"Barry." The sound of Iris' voice over the com made Barry want to immediately go crawl in a hole and die. "It's me. I'm here with Linda. I think you owe us an explanation." There was a pause. "That means Dad and Eddie too."

Oliver smirked at Barry, obviously amused. So much for secrets…

Barry merely groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was not the time or place to discuss this. "Iris, Linda, I'm sorry, but I'll explain. Later though. After this is cleaned up. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Barry."

Barry whirled around at the sound of Wells' distorted voice and everything went black.

* * *

Wells watched the proceedings with growing interest. Obviously, there was no turning back now from his reveal, but there was still a way out. Barry and his allies believed he was defeated. That he had been vanquished. In fact, he was far from it. Vibrating his body ever so minutely as to avoid their attentions, he had slowly melted the ice until it was merely a thin shell around his body with plenty of room for him to break free. All he had needed was a minute to free himself and the idiots had given him more time that he needed.

And now it was time to bring Barry Allen's hopes crashing down once and for all.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Barry," said Harrison, bursting out of the ice and ripping his hand free from Oliver Queen's arrow just as Barry turned to face him and striking the kid hard across the jaw. The boy's body spun and Barry hit the ground, down for the count. Now to deal with the others…

* * *

Len had been so close to feeling safe again when Wells had suddenly shouted out at Barry, the criminal turning around just in time to see Wells burst free from his icy restraints and take down Barry, the young hero taking a punch to his jaw and collapsing to the ground, utterly motionless.

Before Len even had a chance to raise his weapon, Wells was upon the remaining quartet. Wells first attacked the Arrow, snatching the hero's bow from his fingers and brutally beating him with it. The Arrow tried to put up a fight, but barely laid a hand on Wells before the emerald archer fell to his knees, clutching at his throat and struggling to breath.

Wells attacked Len next, relieving him of his gun in the blink of an eye. A millisecond later, he backhanded Len as he ran past again, knocking Len away from Lisa and Mick, both of whom immediately fired upon Wells who gave a hasty retreat. Meanwhile, Len had tumbled over to Barry who he saw now had merely been stunned by Wells' attack, the kid struggling to get to his feet. "Hurry up, Scarlet!" Barry gave Len a half-vacant look, clearly still out of it. "Damn it, Allen…"

Lisa suddenly screamed and Len's attention was instantly on her again. Mick was lying motionless on the ground, his already broken arm twisted at an unnatural angle and a gash across his forehead. Before Len could even yell out in warning, Wells was plowing into Lisa, sending her flying into the side of the house. She fell to the ground with a sickening thud and Len felt his heart shatter.

"Lisa!" Len was suddenly on his feet and racing to his sister's side, all too relieved to see her alive and trying to sit up. "Lisa, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm-" Lisa froze, her fearful eyes locked on something behind him. Len turned, following her gaze. Harrison Wells stood a few yards away, Len's cold gun in hand. A quick glance around told Len that he was on his own. Mick was down, the Arrow was down and so was Barry Allen unless the kid miraculously recovered in the next sixty seconds.

"You know, I'm not much for weapons, particularly firearms," said Wells coolly as he removed his mask, "They're quite crud. Still, Cisco did a fine job making this weapon almost elegant and I must admit I see a certain irony to killing you with your own weapon."

Len stood, placing himself between his sister and Wells. The all-too-pleased grin on Wells' face made Len sick to his stomach. There was no way out of this, at least no way that didn't end up with Len dead. Still, maybe he could make sure Lisa didn't suffer the same fate. "Then kill me. Just spare my sister. She wouldn't have had anything to do with this if it wasn't for me. It's my fault. I deserve the punishment, not her."

"Len-!" Lisa fell silent as Len shot her a pleading look. She looked absolutely terrified. He hadn't seen that level of fear since the day before their dad was arrested. He had hoped to never see it again.

Len turned back to Wells. "Please… Do whatever you want with me. Just spare my sister. I won't even try to run."

Wells let out a soft chuckle. "Now I see it…"

"See what?" asked Len coldly, wanting desperately for this to be over already.

"How you became a hero," stated Wells, startling Len, "In the future, you would have become a member of the Justice League. You wouldn't have been a villain anymore, but a hero and a friend to the Flash. At least, that's how it should have been in a future, obviously not this one. It's a pity you'll never live to see such a future come into fruition. Wells took aim at Len and the master criminal tensed. He knew what was coming next. "As for your sister, Mr. Snart, I'll grant the last wish of a dying man. I do have some small measure of mercy."

Len saw Wells' finger pull tight against the trigger and the bright rush of white and blue ice fly toward him. He did not expect the flash of crimson that suddenly blocked his line of sight.

* * *

Barry's faculties came back to him swiftly at the sound of Snart's scream. Watching the man rush to his sister's side and bravely place himself between his sister and the Reverse Flash stirred something inside Barry, willing him to his feet again as he listened to the exchange between Wells and Snart. So that's how it was going to be. A life for a life. Maybe Snart was a hero after all, but Barry couldn't let him be a hero this time. No, he couldn't let Wells win.

Barry charged forward without a second thought as he saw the ice blast fly toward Snart, hurling himself in front of the man. He wouldn't let Wells destroy another family.

A cry of agony from Barry's lips as he felt the ice slam into his chest, the cold piercing its way straight through his suit and into his lungs and heart. The last of his strength left him instantly as his body struggled to heal the damage. His knees buckled and he fell backwards only for a pair of strong hands to catch him, easing him to the ground.

"Barry?!"


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: Right, so this took forever, but what can I say? My life is crazy right now and I've been lucky to scrap out this much for this story much less any of my others. Thanks you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, and/or favorited this story. You are all amazing and thank you so much for sticking with me through this whole endeavor. More to come, I promise! Please continue to send your feedback to me! It is super helpful. Also, I wouldn't mind hearing what you all think of the end of this chapter.**_

_**Without further ado, here is chapter 11 of **_**Sick Day****_._**

**_-BG_**

* * *

Len blinked, surprised and terrified as Barry fell backwards into him. He caught the young man, horrified as he saw the black frost burn that was splattered across the front of the hero's suit, a long thin patch running up to the blackened strip of skin on the hero's face.

"Barry?!" Len fell to his knees, the young hero almost completely limp in his arms. He ripped off Barry's mask, checking his pulse and shuddering as he found it. The young man's pulse was scarcely there, both incredibly faint and terribly slow against his fingers. Barry let out a weak moan and Len lost it. "Why?! Why did you do that?!"

"I…said it before," gasped Barry, struggling to breathe, "'Over my dead body…'"

Len felt a swell of rage, turning to Wells who was frozen, clearly stunned by what had happened. "Help him! This is all your fault! You did this to him and you can fix it!"

Wells seemed to snap back to reality, his eyes blazing red. "My fault?"

"Yes, your fault. You let your own rage blind you and you're killing the one man you've fought so badly to keep alive. Everything you've done has led to this. Now, save him!" snapped Len.

Wells growled, but didn't say a word, merely flitting over and checking Barry's pulse himself. "I need to take him back to the lab. I have equipment there that can save him."

"We. We need to take him back to the lab," said Len, earning another glare from Wells, "You think I trust you with his life?"

"Probably as much as I trust you with Barry Allen's life," snarked Wells. He grabbed Len's arm tightly, grabbing Barry firmly with the other. "Hold onto something."

Len barely had a chance to breathe before the ground beneath him disappeared and the world around him began to blur. His stomach churned and his breath caught in his throat. Moments later, his vision went black.

* * *

Oliver was scarcely aware as he saw Barry take the ice blast for Snart, his faculties only just returning as he saw Wells whisk off with both Barry and Snart, a protest barely making its way past his bruised throat before the trio were gone.

Oliver struggled to his feet, his hand finding the com in his ear, which he only realized now was filled with yelling and screaming.

"Oliver, what happened?"

"Where's Barry?"

"Did we get Wells?"

"Is Barry ok?"

Oliver grimaced. "Everyone, quiet," he rasped into his mic and the line fell silent, "Barry was hit by an ice blast from Wells using Snart's Cold Gun. Wells took him and Leonard Snart away, probably to his lab." The silence lasted another millisecond before exploding.

"Was Barry ok?"

"What do you mean Wells took them to the lab?"

"What happened?"

"Why'd he take Snart?"

"GUYS-!" Oliver's throat gave out on him, sending him into a massive coughing fit. Once he had it under control, he was relieved to be met with silence once again. "Wells was shooting at Snart and Barry put himself in the line of fire. He didn't look good, but he was alive. Snart managed to convince Wells to help Barry I think and Wells took off with them. I figure he took them to the lab because it's Wells' home base and he has the supplies there to save Barry." Oliver barely got the last word out before he was hit with another coughing fit.

"Oliver," started Joe the moment the fit was over, "Are you all right?"

"I will be." Oliver coughed again. "I'll figure out a way to get back to the city. For now, you all need to stay away from STAR Labs. It's too dangerous for anyone to try to go after them. There's no knowing what Wells could do to Barry, or to Snart for that matter. Yes, I think Wells will do his best to save Barry right now, but there's no telling what he might do to either Barry or Snart afterwards.

"Ok. We'll sit tight for now," said Joe, "Meet us here at the precinct. We'll figure out our next step from there."

"I'll be there." Oliver hesitated. "Joe, I'm sorry. I wasn't-"

"Oliver, don't. We know you tried," replied Joe, "Thank you."

Oliver sighed, fighting a wave of frustration, "…I'll call when I get to the precinct."

"Please do."

Oliver turned off his com, letting out a heavy sigh. This could not be happening. He'd come here to save Barry only to fail. He'd failed to rescue him and failed to protect him, both from Wells and from the kid's own stupid heroism.

"Queen." The voice behind Oliver made him turn, spotting Lisa Snart kneeling next to Mick Rory. "Mind helping me get him to the van?"

Oliver's mind when on autopilot and he stepped over to her, helping her pick up the surprisingly heavy pyromaniac. They headed toward the garage, which had somehow managed to stay unharmed during the whole affair. "If you're heading for Central City, mind giving me a lift?"

"As if I'd be going anywhere else," replied Lisa, "Someone needs to go rescue Len."

Oliver merely nodded, holding up Rory as Lisa opened up the van and the two of them tossed Rory into the back. "How is he?" said Oliver, gesturing to the pyro.

"Knocked out, but he's always had a hard head. He'll be around soon enough," said Lisa. She headed back out toward the house. "I'll grab the keys; you grab the weapons."

Oliver did as Lisa said without protest, returning to the van with his bow, the Heat Gun and Lisa's own weapon. The Cold Gun, however, was missing and Oliver had a sinking feeling he knew exactly where it had gone. As he set down the weapons on the bumper, Lisa was throwing a couple of bags into the back with Mick. "Souvenirs?"

"Our lives," replied Lisa tersely. It was now that Oliver could see the small tremors in her hands. Crap. He'd forgotten that it wasn't just Barry's life in the balance now.

"I'm sorry," said Oliver slowly, "That was…insensitive." Lisa merely nodded. "…he's going to be all right."

"How do you know that?" Lisa's tone was bitter and sad.

"Because. You and your brother have been though a Hell of a lot worse than this. He's tough and strong and as long as Barry's alive, he won't let anything happen to your brother."

"And if Barry's dead?" commented Lisa.

Oliver flinched ever so slightly, but continued nonetheless. "I doubt Wells will let Barry die." Oliver hesitated, shoving away a dark thought as a bitter taste reached his mouth. "And if Barry isn't alive, Wells knows that keeping your brother alive is his only chance to keep us at bay."

Lisa nodded, clearly not believing a word he said, but maybe trying to. "…we should go now..."

"You should probably drive," said Oliver, "I'm not exactly unrecognizable in this getup."

Lisa managed a small smirk. "Definitely. Just keep an eye on Mick, would you? He might wake up swinging."

Oliver grimaced as he climbed into the back and Lisa started the van. "I'll keep that in mind." He buckled himself in, taking a deep breath and placing his head in his hands. It was going to be a long way back to Central City.

* * *

Len woke with a start, immediately struggling to remember where he was as his eyes wandered across the room. It was obviously a lab with all the equipment. The air was cool even by his standards and the lights were dim. The sterile smell that lingered reminded Len of a hospital and he suppressed a shudder. He hated hospitals. They reminded him too much of the days when he'd have an almost monthly stay in the hospital courtesy of his father-

Len's eyes widened as his eyes finally landed on the singularly lit examining table. Barry lay on the table, an oxygen mask over his face and various sensors dotted across his body, all connected to a monitor. His suit had been removed and he now only wore a pair of sweatpants, allowing Len to see the blackened skin on the kid's chest. It looked liked it had been much worse before, but Barry's healing factor had obviously kicked in and was repairing the damage. Thank goodness for small favors.

"Barry." Len tried to stand only to find himself restrained, his wrists bound to the arms of the chair he now realized he was in and his legs bound to the chair's. He strained at the straps holding him down, finding them tight, but not painful as he tried to get free. It was, however, a futile attempt. He wasn't going anywhere.

Len took a long, deep breath, calming himself. He needed to get a grip. He was alive, Lisa was alive and so was Barry. So far so good. Len looked himself up and down, finding that his parka had been removed and his Cold Gun was missing still. He was largely unharmed however and that was a relief in itself. He'd half expected for Wells to take advantage of his unconscious state and gut him, but that apparently wasn't the case. The only thing he did notice, something that surprised him, was that a cold pack had been wrapped over the bruised ribs he had received during the attack earlier and several bandages had been placed over the various injuries he had also obtained.

"Surprised, Mr. Snart?" Len turned, spotting Harrison Wells standing in the doorway, his more sinister yellow suit absent.

"You could say that," said Len quietly, resisting the prickling fear that was gearing up his body to flee. After all, that was impossible considering his current predicament. "…how's Barry?"

"Recovering," said Wells, his mouth twitching with irritation, "He's lucky he heals quickly. Anyone else would have died, or rather, _should have died_."

Len scowled as Wells shot him a furious look. "Hey, I was all ready to die for my sister, I didn't ask Barry to pull a sacrifice play."

"Indeed." Wells entered the room, coming to a stop at the foot of Barry's bed. "Ever the hero…"

Len merely nodded, watching Wells check the monitor. He squirmed ever so slightly in his chair as the uncomfortable silence grew more and more unbearable. "So what now?"

Wells didn't reply for a moment, adjusting a monitor setting, "Now, you're going to help me convince Barry to help me."

Len couldn't suppress the bitter scoff that escaped him. "Me? Help you? I don't think so especially considering you just tried to my sister and I."

Wells let out a soft chuckle of amusement, the tone clearly sinister. "I never said you'd be doing it willingly, Mr. Snart. In fact, I intend for it to be far from willing.

Len's eyes narrowed. "How so?"

"Let me put it simply for you," said Wells mockingly, "I need Barry Allen. You? You are disposable. A pawn really. If he's willing to throw himself between you and certain death, what do you think Barry will do to protect you from me?"

Len tugged sharply at his restraints. "Wells, this is insane."

"Only if it doesn't work, which it will." Wells suddenly loomed in front of Len, leaning forward ever so slightly as he grasped the arms of the chair tightly, pinning Len's arms down in a viselike grip. "I'm sure you'll plead with Barry to finally play your sacrifice card, but the matter is, Snart, that once I'm done with you, I'd have all of Barry's loved one's to choose from. Maybe I'll take Iris. You saw firsthand how hard Barry will fight to protect her. Or, maybe, I'll settle for your sister first. Allow her to see what I've done to you, let her cries of anguish and rage burn through Barry, the guilt of failing to save you spurring him forward, forcing him to do exactly what I say. So you see, Snart, it wouldn't make much of a difference even if you tried. I am always one-step ahead, one thousand leagues farther on the playing field than all of you and nothing will stop me from getting what I want. Not even you."

Len glared at Wells, struggling against the rage that had swelled just beneath the surface. His throat was tight with fear and frustration. He felt tears prick in his eyes for the first time in years. He'd never imagined that he could feel so much hate for another person ever again. "…you're just like my father, Wells. Cruel, ignorant, and self-absorbed. But worst of all, you're an abusive son of a bitch."

Wells' fist cracked across Len's face faster than the blink of an eye with enough force to knock Len and his chair over. Abruptly, he was pulled up right again and Wells' hand was around his throat, squeezing his air way closed and effectively silencing him. "You will watch your tone with me, Snart. As I said before, you are disposable. And believe me, I would be all too happy simply ripping your heart from your chest if it will give me the satisfaction of ending your life once and for all."

Suddenly Wells' hand was gone and Len could breathe again, coughing as his lungs burned from the rush of oxygen to his lungs. His eyes found Wells again, the doctor fiddling with the controls on Barry's monitor again. "I have to go out for a bit. Rest assured I will be back, Mr. Snart. And if you make any attempt to escape, I will know and I will be right back and put a stop to it, understood?"

"Vividly," replied Len, his voice cracking from his now bruised throat.

"Excellent. Enjoy your exceedingly short reprieve."

Wells was gone in the blink of an eye and Len immediately started struggling to get free. They had to get out of there before Wells came back. They had to escape no matter Wells' threats or Len was certain he and Barry would never see the light of day again. In fact, he doubted they'd never leave STAR Labs alive.

* * *

The station was in chaos the moment the Captain had informed everyone of Snart releasing Barry and the subsequent abduction of Barry and Leonard Snart by his mother's killer. The captain had told the story in full, only leaving out the part about Barry being the Flash. To say the officers were stunned by the developments was an understatement, several obviously curious about the existence of the Reverse Flash and his identity as the true murderer of Nora Allen. Most, however, were more or less surprised by Snart's roll in the matter, turning from cunning and ruthless criminal to relentless and self-sacrificing defender in a matter of hours. While the majority of these folks reacted with disbelief, a fair few were appreciative, wondering if maybe the criminal had finally shown his true colors.

Joe had disappeared over an hour ago, undoubtedly for Iron Heights to inform Henry Allen of the current situation. Cisco and Caitlin were working with the Captain (and Diggle who had showed up a short while after the chaos had started) to pin point a way for them to get into STAR Labs undetected, but were so far having little success.

How Eddie had ended up being the one to sit in Barry's lab with Iris and Linda was beyond him, both still in shock over what had happened. Unfortunately, Eddie wasn't any less shocked than they were. He just was handling it a little better, or maybe at least more like an officer of the law who'd had to face a few crises in his rather short career. Maybe that's why he now found himself making the two women some tea, a process which was not as simple as it sounded. All they'd had in the break room was a package of tea that looked as old as Mayor Bellows himself. Hell, it had probably been Bellow's stash back when the mayor had worked at the precinct. With the normal options exhausted, Eddie had instead headed downstairs to the Division of Crimes Against Women and Children. The division head, Detective Rosemarie Harris, was known throughout the precinct as an avid tea drinker. Unsurprisingly, Harris was happy to give him a few tea bags from her collection, suggesting the mint chamomile tea bags would be the best for the two women up in the lab.

Iris and Linda were deep in a quiet discussion when Eddie returned with the tea, both women stopping their conversation and thanking Eddie. He took a seat with them, nursing his own cup of tea, some kind of herbal tea with the sharp taste of oranges. Whatever it was, it was energizing, just as Detective Harris had promised.

"So… how long have you known that Barry was the Flash?" asked Iris, her voice startling Eddie and almost making him spill his tea all over himself. Oh, crap. They were going to do this now?

"…not long," he finally said, "I found out when I was at your dad's house with the Captain. He was upset over Snart wanting to meet with him and exchange Barry's life for the Flash's name."

"Which was something he couldn't do," said Iris.

Eddie nodded. "He was so distressed about the whole thing that when we inquired as to why, he just seemed so…broken. Then he told us the truth. Honestly, I'm still trying to process it."

"I don't know how I missed it," said Iris, "Knowing now that it was Barry under that mask the whole time… It just all seems to fit into place."

"It explains why he skipped out of one of our dates," said Linda, "He said he had to do something for work, but I'd called him here only to find out he wasn't even in."

"I'm guessing that's why he pulled that pepper thing with you," said Iris.

"Yeah. It was," said Linda, putting down her tea, "Turns out I called the wrong job."

Iris managed a small smirk at that which Eddie mirrored. Suddenly the moment didn't seem so tense anymore.

"He skipped out of your date to help me." The trio turned to the door where Dr. Snow was wringing her hands. "Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude."

"It's fine," said Eddie, motioning for her to take a seat and join them. The good doctor smiled weakly and sat between him and Linda.

"So, Dr. Snow, you were saying that he left to help you?" said Linda.

"Yes, and please, call me Caitlin." Caitlin smoothed out her dress nervously, "And yeah, it was my fault he had to leave."

"Did it have something to do with your cousin Sam?" asked Iris.

Caitlin flushed slightly. "Yeah, that's not his name… He's…his name's Ronnie Raymond. He's my fiancé."

"Wait," said Eddie, backtracking as the name rang a bell, "Wasn't Ronnie Raymond one of the people killed during the particle accelerator explosion?"

"He was, or at least, we though he was. He was the one who went into the particle accelerator to reroute it up instead of out."

"Because out would have been catastrophic," commented Linda, "I was reporting outside when the blast happened."

"I remember," said Eddie.

"Well, we thought Ronnie died in the blast, but really, the explosion and some experimental tech merged Ronnie with Professor Martin Stein. Iris knows them better as the Burning Man."

Iris' jaw dropped. "Your fiancé is the Burning Man?"

"Well, they go by Firestorm now, but yeah, Ronnie's one part of him anyway," said Caitlin, "He and Professor became…one person. And the energy that merged them, that gave them their powers, was unstable. We finally tracked them down and I called Barry to come help us bring Ronnie and Stein to try to help them stabilize and separate. We finally managed it though and they left so the army would stop hunting them."

"So that explains the attack that happened at Jitters." Iris leaned forward, intrigued. "So, if Ronnie and Professor Stein have powers, can they help us?"

"They're still getting used to being…partners, but they're on their way. If anything, Ronnie might know of a way for us to get into STAR Labs and rescue Barry and Snart. They aren't going to be here for a few hours yet though. Maybe not until late tomorrow morning."

Linda nodded, Iris and Eddie joining her. "So…if all we can do right now is wait, how about you tell us about some of Barry's adventures as the Flash?" Linda set down her mug. "I'm sure you've got some good stories."

Caitlin smiled and Eddie felt oddly relieved as she began telling them all about the fantastical adventures of Barry Allen as the Flash. Despite the circumstances, he found himself enraptured by every detail of every story Caitlin told, relaxing ever so slightly as time passed. If there was anything her stories told him, it told him that Barry had a chance and that if they were behind him, there was a very real chance that they would get Barry back alive and well. Barry was stronger that Eddie had ever imagined and with his track record as a hero, Eddie was almost certain that Wells had underestimated Barry and that was what was going to come back to bite Wells in the ass.

* * *

As Lisa pulled the van up to the precinct, Oliver shot off a quick message to Dig that they had arrived. A few short minutes later, they were directed by a rather confused looking cop toward the lower level evidence garage. Immediately, Lisa seemed to tense, but Oliver put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she relaxed ever so slightly as they entered the garage. There were only three people waiting for them in the garage: Cisco, Dig and the precinct captain.

Oliver stepped out of the van the moment Lisa put it in park, Dig stepping over to greet him. "How're we doing, Dig?"

"Felicity lost her link to the lab footage the moment Wells arrived there with Barry and Snart. We do know that they're there and that they're both alive." Dig looked him over, his eyes settling on the bruise Oliver knew was across his throat. "Knife hand?"

"Bow strike," corrected Oliver with a grimace. At least his voice wasn't cracking anymore.

"He needs like a pound of ice for that." Oliver turned with the trio, looking to see Lisa Snart clambering out of the vehicle.

The Captain pursed his lips, but didn't react much otherwise to her sudden appearance. "Ms. Snart."

"Captain." The woman's tone was cordial, but icy. She, like her brother, didn't seem to hold much faith or trust in the police.

"Ok," said Cisco, letting out a nervous laugh and breaking the tension, "I'm Cisco. This is John Diggle." Dig gave Lisa a slight nod of acknowledgement. "Now that we're all acquainted, we should probably focus on figuring out how to get Barry and Cold back."

"I couldn't agree more," said the Captain. He gave Oliver a brief glance, but refrained from commenting. "Now, are there any weapons you'd like to declare?" Oliver opened his mouth to reply. "Not you, Mr. Queen. Ms. Snart?"

"Lisa, if you would please. And just my gun." She pulled it out slowly, keeping her fingers only on the butt to show him. "Well, that and Mick."

"He's unconscious in the back," commented Oliver, "I think he needs a doctor."

"He just needs some ice," commented Lisa, rolling her eyes, "Mick has a hard enough head. He should be waking up at any minute.

"Wonderful. And I suppose he has his flamethrower as well?" deadpanned the Captain.

"Of course. And you can hold onto it until we go rescue my brother and the Flash," said Lisa, "I'd rather him not torch the place before we figure this whole situation out."

The Captain nodded, glancing toward Cisco who stepped forward, looking slightly unsure. "I'll… I'll take the Heat Gun then."

Lisa nodded. "It's in the back." She stepped around the car to the open side door, grabbing the weapon out and handing it to Cisco. Oliver noticed that the Captain had his hand by his weapon the entire time until the Heat Gun was in Cisco's possession. Unfortunately, the moment Cisco had the Heat Gun in his hands, was also the moment Mick Rory suddenly woke up.

* * *

Cisco barely had a chance to jump in fear as Mick Rory suddenly awoke, the man's eyes blazing as he launched himself forward with a half-crazed yell. Lucky for Cisco, Lisa Snart seemed to have been expecting this, yanking Cisco clear of the pyromaniac's lunge and slapping Mick Rory across in the face. Startlingly, this both stopped and shut up Rory in an instant, the man clearly now returning to his senses.

"Mick, relax. We're at the precinct," said Lisa, taking the man's arms as his tensed, "Wells took Len and Barry. We're going to work with the police to help get them both back."

Mick Rory let out a soft grunt, slowly taking in both Lisa's words and his surroundings. "…they're not going to arrest us?"

Cisco glanced at the Captain, finding the man's expression darkening. "Um, Captain, maybe temporary amnesty? Since, you know, we kind of need all the help we can get here?"

The Captain looked between Cisco and the two criminals, obviously thinking it over. "…fine. I'll put in the paperwork that Mick Rory and Lisa Snart are being given temporary amnesty for being cooperative witnesses. After that…"

"We're on our own," said Lisa, "We got it." She turned to Mick, checking the man over. "...can we get some ice for Mick's head?"

The Captain let out a long-suffering sigh. "Somehow I doubt all he needs is ice. I'll go get Dr. Snow. See what she can do for him. For now, the three of you, including Mr. Queen must remain down here. I've already set it off limits."

"Thank you," replied the Emerald Archer as the Captain left them.

Cisco turned to Oliver, stunned to only now realize that the archer had had his bow drawn and ready in the case that Mick Rory had continued to go rogue. Wait, hadn't Barry been using that to describe the criminal trio before? Rogue? The Rogues? Cisco frowned, realizing that not only had Barry beat him to the punch on naming these three, but he actually liked it. The Rogues. The Flash versus the Rogues. Sounded like a comic book story, but hey, wasn't life in Central City one big comic book?

"So where are we at with getting into STAR Labs?" asked Lisa.

"Nowhere, unfortunately," said Diggle, "We've been searching the schematics for a way to slip in without Wells detecting us, but so far we're out of luck."

"And Ronnie isn't going to be here for a while yet," said Cisco, "So we're kind of screwed until then."

Oliver scowled. "Is there no one else that could help us? Someone that used to work for STAR Labs maybe?"

Cisco gave a start as a thought came to him. Of course, why hadn't he thought of it before? Of course, there was someone else who could help them. Someone else who knew loads about STAR Labs. Someone who had a serious bone to pick with Dr. Wells to boot. Someone who was a totally dick on a good day, but maybe exactly who they needed right now. "I might have an idea. Stay here."

"Wait, Cisco-" Started Oliver.

Cisco sprinted out of the room before anyone else could protest, his thoughts racing. He needed to find Hartley Rathaway.

* * *

_**A/N: Bet you didn't expect that XD**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: Wow, sorry everyone! This took a Hell of a lot longer to write than I thought it would! Really sorry about that. A big thank you to everyone who's stuck with this and to everyone who has found this story. Thanks for reading, following, favoriting, and/or reviewing. It's really helped move this along believe it or not.**_

_**Sorry again. Here's chapter 12 of **_**Sick Day****_._**

**_-BG_**

* * *

A couple of hours passed before Len managed to make any headway with his restraints. His wrists had grown raw and bloody long ago, but that wasn't going to stop him. Not even Wells' threat had done that and the pain from his struggles was nothing in comparison to the many injuries he'd suffered at his father's hand. Besides, the blood had make his right hand just slick enough to for him to finally be able to slipped free of the strap holding it.

The moment his hand was free, Len ripped open his other restraints, stumbling out of the chair as fast as he could. There was one obstacle down. He staggered over to Barry's table, checking over the system Wells had attached the speedster to. One control was definitely for a sedative. It had to be. Otherwise, he was pretty sure Barry would have woken up before now. The kid's frost burns had long since disappeared, which meant he could probably run them out of there. If Len could get him to wake up, that is.

Len played with the controls, dropping all of the IV settings down to zero. "Come on, kid. Time to wake up. We need to be gone before the good doctor gets back."

Barry didn't even stir, his breathing remaining slow and rhythmic. Len rolled his eyes skyward. Of course. It wasn't going to be that easy. Len sighed and wiped the blood off his hand before smacking Barry in the face.

Barry was awake in a split second, eyes wide as he scrambled off the table and landed hard on the floor. "What the Hell-?!"

"Barry, chill. You need to chill. Wells could be back at any second." Len held up his hands defensively.

Barry's eyes froze on Len's hands, the blood on them clearly startling the kid. "…how did…?"

"Long story, kid. We'll have plenty of time for it later once we get out of here." Len reached out with his less bloody hand and pulled Barry to his feet, noting that there were still some streaks of red on Barry's face from the slap. "Think you've got anything in the tank to get us out of here?"

"I could try…" Barry took a deep breath and for a moment he was blur of red and gold only for him to fall to his knees not three feet from where he'd been standing. "I don't understand… I could feel my speed and then it just…stopped…"

Len frowned, glancing at the IV that Barry had been attached to. "Wells must have been dosing you with something other than just sedatives."

"Something that can dampen my speed," monotoned Barry bitterly, "Great. Now how do we do this?"

"The old fashion way," said Len, helping Barry up again, "We run."

"And if Wells gets back before we get out? Asked Barry.

Len winced. "I guess we hope he's in a good mood…"

Barry swallowed and nodded, stumbling as he took a step toward the door. "…you might want to leave without me…"

"Kid, I didn't get all bloodied just to leave you here to die. If I were that cold-hearted, I would have left you here the moment I got free and made a run for it myself. Wells is a monster though and I've faced enough to know I wouldn't leave my worst enemy with them." Len hooked Barry's arm over his shoulders and steadied him. "Let's go."

"Snart-"

"Stuff it, kid," growled Len as he started toward the door, half-dragging and half-carrying Barry toward the door. He tried not to think about the pain emanating from his wrists, struggling to at least make it with Barry to the doorway before needing to take a break. One step at a time…

They were within a few feet of the exit when an alarm started blaring and the door slammed shut in their faces. Len felt a moment of desperation before he charged at the door, trying helplessly to break it down as he let Barry slide to the floor. They had almost made it…

"Sorry," whispered Barry.

Len glancing back at the kid to see the sincere regret written all over his face. He let out a sigh. "It's not your fault, Barry… This one's on me…"

"Told you. You should have gone without me," commented Barry.

"And I told you that I wasn't going to leave you here."

"Too bad," said Barry, "You're making a horrible supervillain today."

Len bit back a bitter laugh. "Guess so…"

A soft hissing noise filled the room suddenly and Len whirled around, spotting several plumes of white gas spewing from spouts in the ceiling. Whatever the Hell it was, Len wasn't in the mood to find out.

Len threw himself into forcing the doors open, struggling to pull at the door seam. "Barry, give me a hand with this!"

Barry forced himself to his feet, grabbing at the door with Len as they both pulled, neither succeeding as the gas floated closer to them. "I don't think we're going to make it, Snart…"

Len wanted to argue with the kid, but he couldn't find the strength, the gas finally reaching them and making him feel faint. A knock out gas. Fucking fantastic. Len felt his legs giving out beneath him and slipped to the floor, trying still to get back up. "Sorry, Barry… Guess I wasn't fast enough this time."

Barry let out a choked laugh, coughing as he too slid to the floor. "It's cool… At least you tried…"

Len managed a weak smile as he felt his arms give out on him and he collapsed to the floor finally. His eyelids grew heavier until they fell shut, the hazy image of Barry falling to the floor unconscious the last thing he saw before he too lost consciousness.

* * *

Cisco drove up to the ramshackle apartment complex, frowning as he observed its state of urban decay. "Felicity, are you sure this is the place?"

"I'm positive," said the blond hacker over the line, "Everything I've found says Hartley Rathaway lives here. 1959 May St., Building F, Room 106."

"Right…" Cisco parked his car and got out, locking it as he began walking around to find building F. "If you don't hear from me in a while, make sure Caitlin knows where I am. If I can't find Hartley here, I might need your help finding where else he could be."

"Oh he's there. If he's not, we'll figure that out. But he should be there."

"Thanks, Felicity. I owe you one," said Cisco.

"And I will come to collect," said Felicity brightly, "Good luck!"

"Thanks." Cisco hung up the phone, glancing warily at Building F. He sincerely hoped Hartley was here and this wasn't going to turn into some wild goose chase. They were going to need Hartley's help they ever hoped to take down Wells and get back Barry and Snart. Correction: they were going to need his help ASAP if they ever hoped to get Barry and Snart back alive.

The main doors to building F were unlocked and no one sat at the grime covered front desk except a few spiders and…was that a rat? Cisco really didn't want to know. Reading the signs, Cisco turned down the first hallway on the right. Room 106 was down on the left side at the end of the hall. The door looked to be made out of solid oak and had been painted forest green with gold numbers. In fact, it looked like the only new thing in the entire building. Hartley had to live here.

Cisco hesitated only for a moment before he knocked on the door. He waited, straining to hear any sound of movement inside the room. Hearing nothing, Cisco knocked again. "Hartley, it's me. Cisco?" Pausing to listen again, Cisco could have sworn he heard something move inside. He took it as a sign to keep talking. "Look, Hartley, I know you probably don't want to hear from me or anyone else at the Lab, but we need your help. Doctor Wells-"

Cisco's voice cracked and he had to pause and swallow past the lump in his throat. No matter how many times he replayed Wells' transformation in his head, it was still just as horrifying as the first time. "You were right, Hartley. You were right and we were wrong. I was wrong. Dr. Wells… He's…he's a monster. He's hurt some people… He's killed more people than you think… He kidnapped my friend and he's going to kill him." Cisco took a deep breath, praying Hartley was listening. "We need your help. We need your help to take down Dr. Wells."

"You know, you should have led with that."

Cisco gave a start, whirling around to see Hartley standing behind him, a grocery bag in one hand and a sonic glove aimed for Cisco with his free hand. Before Cisco could even respond, Hartley fired a blast at him, sending him flying into the hall wall. Landing with a grunt of pain, Cisco looked up at Hartley, thinking for the first time that this was a huge mistake. Why hadn't he even thought to bring backup? It wasn't like Hartley was a supervillain with superpowers, but he did have those damn gloves and Cisco wasn't armed at all.

"Hartley, please! I just needed to talk to you!" said Cisco, struggling to his feet, "Please! If you don't want to help, that's fine! We really need you, but I respect your decision. You were right and we didn't listen. But it's going to take hours for Ronnie to get here and we need to get into STAR Labs."

"Save it, Cisco," said Hartley, "Even if I wanted to help you, you haven't really given me a reason to."

"You don't want to take down Wells?" asked Cisco, mildly surprised.

"I tried that before," replied Hartley bitterly, "You stopped me, remember?"

"I do," said Cisco, "But…I…I didn't know what he'd done then."

"You mean you didn't believe me then," retorted Hartley, his glove beginning to hum again.

"I didn't want to!" replied Cisco quickly as he raised his hands defensively, "Could you? When you first found out about Wells and what he was doing with the particle accelerator, could you believe it? Did you want to believe it? Did you want to believe that the man who was supposed to be our mentor and boss was actually a deranged lunatic? Because I couldn't! I thought that Dr. Wells was a good man and he's not! He's psychotic and doesn't care about anyone."

"Except the Flash." Hartley scowled and Cisco almost expected to get blasted again. Except he didn't. "He's Wells' golden boy."

"Don't even get me started on that!" snapped Cisco, "He doesn't care about Barry at all! He wants to kill him!"

Hartley went stock-still, his gaze uncertain for the first time in a long time. "…Barry? As in, Barry Allen?"

Cisco tensed. "How do you know that?"

"You just called him Barry," said Hartley matter-of-factly, "The news has been going crazy about Barry Allen for the past twenty-four hours. First, Snart and his gang kidnapped him. Now this Reverse Flash character took him. How does he tie into Wells?"

Cisco hesitated. They needed Hartley's help with this. They really, really did and he wasn't just going to agree to help them. He needed Hartley on their side. "…if I tell you, will you promise to help us take down Wells?"

"You're not in any position to bargain, Cisco," commented Hartley.

"Well, I don't really have much to lose!" retorted Cisco, "I, we, need your help to take down Wells! If beating and blasting the crap out of me will get you to help, I don't really care! I need to help my friend and you're the only person who can help me get him back. So I'm here. Asking for your help. If I have to beg, ok. Fine. I'll beg. Just…please. Help us stop Wells."

Hartley kept looking at Cisco, clearly deep in thought. "…you really want my help to take down Harrison Wells?"

"Not just want," replied Cisco, "Need. We can't do this without you."

Hartley let out a long-suffering sigh, but lowered his sonic glove, much to Cisco's relief. "Fine. Let me put away my groceries. Then we'll talk. I want to know what the Hell is happening before I sign on."

"I'll tell you everything I know," said Cisco, "If you'll promise to at least help us break into STAR Labs. Anything after that is completely up to you."

Hartley nodded slowly. "Deal." He pulled out his keys and opened the door to his apartment, stepping inside. "Come it. Leave your shoes at the door. And DON'T touch anything."

Cisco nodded, following Hartley in and trying not to let the relief show on his face as he shut the door behind him. He had no idea what he would have done if things had gone south for him.

* * *

Eddie had just made his way back to the bullpen when Joe returned. Only, to Eddie's surprise, his partner wasn't alone.

"Dr. Allen?" sputtered out Eddie as he stood to greet Barry's father, "What are you doing here?"

"Early release," replied the senior Allen, "The DA sped things along with Barry…"

"Right," said Eddie quickly as Barry's father faltered, "Sorry. I'm glad you're out anyway, Dr. Allen. I just wish Barry were here to see it."

"You and me both," replied Dr. Allen, "And, call me Henry."

"Henry. Got it." Eddie turned to Joe who had been quiet throughout the entire exchange. "Right, the Arrow and the rest of the Rogues are downstairs in the garage. Caitlin and Mr. Diggle are with them. Apparently Mick Rory needed some medical treatment. I just left Iris and Linda up in Barry's lab. Cisco ran out about an hour ago. The Arrow said it had something to do with an idea. Cisco didn't really elaborate."

"If you don't hear from him soon, call him. If he doesn't pick up, have the Arrow call Miss Smoake and see if she can pinpoint Cisco's location," said Joe.

"Joe." Eddie, Joe and Dr. Allen turned as Captain Singh approached them, the Captain pausing as he spotted Dr. Allen. "I was going to ask where you went. Now I understand." He held out a hand to Barry's father. "Dr. Allen, it's good to finally meet you."

Dr. Allen took his hand, shaking it firmly. "Likewise. I wish it were under better circumstances."

Singh merely nodded. "On that we can agree. If you wouldn't mind, Dr. Allen, I need to speak with my detectives in private. If you could wait by Joe's desk…"

"I understand. I'm just here," said Henry, looking even more worried. He gave the trio a brief nod and headed over toward Joe's desk, plopping in the chair next to it.

Singh gave the doctor a safe look before turning back to his officers. "I've cordoned off STAR Lab. No one can go in without going through us."

"But if Wells wants in or out, we're not exactly in a position to stop him," said Eddie, "How does that help us?"

"It means that if anyone down in the basement decides to stage a rescue mission alone won't be able to screw things up before we stop the," replied Singh.

"I doubt Mr. Rory or Lisa are going to try anything right now." The trio turned abruptly, astonished to see Oliver Queen approaching them with now in his civilian clothes. "Dr. Snow had to sedate Rory after she fixed him up. He's in no shape to do anything right now."

The Captain nodded. "And Ms. Snart?"

Oliver paused for a moment. "Lisa knows what she saw," he replied, "She saw that not even the four of us were able to take on Wells. Even if she wanted to, Lisa knows that it would be completely suicidal to go after Wells on her own. She won't try anything. Not without a team."

"And you know this how?" asked Joe carefully.

Oliver grimaced briefly. "She may be a criminal, Detective, but Lisa Snart is a highly intelligent woman. Even more so than her brother. Believe it or not, she's smarter than she lets on. That and she loves her brother. She knows that working with us is her only chance to get him back alive."

"So what do we do now?" asked Eddie carefully.

"We regroup. We heal. We get all the information we can on STAR Labs from Mr. Raymond when he arrives and hopefully Cisco's idea pans out," replied Oliver.

"Speaking of Cisco," said the Captain, "Can your tech friend figure out where he went?"

"I'll call her. Ask where he might have gone." Oliver nodded to them, stepping away as he pulled out his phone.

Eddie noticed the small smile that appeared on the vigilante's face, knowing that Felicity Smoak had answered. It was a genuine expression, maybe the only genuine expression that Oliver Queen possessed after his five-year ordeal. It was pure happiness. Even if the two weren't a couple, the woman at least made the dark and brooding man smile.

Eddie managed a small smile of his own at this, thinking of Iris upstairs. How she made him feel. Her smile… The light that swelled up inside of him with every little thing she did.

"Eddie."

Eddie shook his head as he was pulled back to reality. Joe was staring at him, looking concerned. "Um, sorry. What?"

"I was saying that you looked tired," replied Joe.

"And I have to agree," said the Captain.

Eddie sighed, rubbing his temple. "I'm fine. My mind was just…elsewhere…"

"Which is why I want you, Joe and Iris to go home," said the Captain, startling even Joe, "We're not going to fix all of this right now and when Mr. Raymond and Dr. Stein arrive, we're going to need everyone at the top of their game. Allen and Snart are going to need us at the top of our game."

Despite his own reservations about leaving, Eddie nodded. "…I'll see if Linda wants to come with us. If she wants to stay, that's up to her, but…"

"You do that," said the Captain, "I'm sure she'll appreciate the company."

"You all can stay over at the house," said Joe suddenly, "We have plenty of room for everyone."

Eddie merely nodded again. "I'll talk to them." He cast a brief glance toward Joe, Henry and Oliver before heading up toward Barry's lab again, deep in thought as he ascended the staircase. The Captain was right. First, they would get some rest. Then they would bring Barry home.

* * *

Hartley watched Cisco out of the corner of his eye as he put away his groceries. The kid was sitting on the couch, trying not to fidget at the same time as he was trying not to talk. Odd that Cisco of all people could have such restraint at all. The situation had to be dire that Cisco would fight his own nature.

"Tea or coffee?" Hartley asked finally, startling Cisco.

"…um, nothing for me," said Cisco finally, "Not unless you've got the world's largest bottle of whiskey."

Hartley almost smirked at this, but found it didn't quite make it to his lips. Now that was definitely Cisco talking, but at the same time, the way he was acting… This was Hartley seeing Cisco being serious for the first time in a long time.

Hartley sat down in the armchair across from Cisco. "…then talk."

Cisco took a deep shaky breath. "Right, so Wells lied about a lot more than knowing the particle accelerator was going to explode. If I had anything to bet right now, I'd say that he made it explode on purpose, but that's beside the point right now."

Hartley tensed at Cisco's words and the scientist stopped, obviously worried that he'd said something wrong. He hadn't but the fact that Cisco above all people would suddenly believe that Wells had purposely caused the particle accelerator to explode was disturbing enough to Hartley. He motioned for Cisco to continue, trying to appear more relaxed than he felt.

"So Wells is a murderer, but not just in the sense of the particle accelerator. He confessed to the murder of Barry's mother fifteen years ago."

"But…Dr. Wells didn't come to Central City until about fourteen years ago," said Hartley cautiously, "How could he have murdered the Flash's mom if he didn't even-?" Hartley's brain caught up with his mouth. "Unless that's why he came to Central City in the first place…"

"That I don't know," said Cisco, "But I wouldn't be surprised. It's the circumstances that are what make what I'm telling you so important though…"

"Go on," said Hartley, part of him wanting to hear the answer just as much as he really didn't want to know."

"For the past fifteen years, Barry's dad has been in prison for his mom's murder. When Barry and his dad told everyone what really happened, nobody believed them. They all thought that Barry was trying to cover for his father murdering his mom."

"But he wasn't," replied Hartley.

Cisco shook his head. "No. They weren't but nobody believed him until now. Until Barry became the Flash and suddenly his story of the yellow suited man in the lightning didn't seem so impossible."

Hartley merely blinked, Cisco's words gripping his heart like a vise as his brain started connecting the dots. Wells had murdered the Flash's mother. The Flash ran with lightning. But he wore red. The only other person that came to mind was- "Harrison Wells is the Reverse Flash…"

Cisco nodded. "I guess I should have just said it outright, but…"

"No," said Hartley quietly, "No, giving me the facts in order to figure it out on my own was better." He sighed, everything he knew about Dr. Wells fitting together like a grotesque image in a funhouse mirror. "Now it all makes sense."

"What does?" Cisco leaned forward, his eyes wide with curiosity. "What do you mean that 'it all makes sense'?"

"When I attacked Dr. Wells at his house, he made it out completely unscathed. While I couldn't see him, I knew he was in the middle of his house under the glass roof. He should have been ripped to shreds by the glass, but he wasn't hurt at all…"

"Damn…" Cisco whispered.

"That's not all though," said Hartley, the stunned look on Cisco's face unsettling, "When I broke out of your cells there, when I was leaving, I ran into Wells, or rather, came upon him. He had collapsed on the floor and his legs were spasming oddly. I thought originally that he could have just been hiding that he could walk after all and that his spinal injury was causing him some trouble. But with what you've just told me…"

"He was having trouble running," voiced Cisco, a dawning look on his face, "My God. I need to let the team know. It could work to our advantage. If he's having issues running…" Cisco stood. "I need to get back to the station."

"Wait," said Hartley, "You still want my help, don't you?"

Cisco froze, muttering curses to himself. "Yeah, yes, we do. I mean, if you're still up for it. Sorry. My mind's running away on me." The scientist rubbed the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed.

"Just let me get some things together," said Hartley, "I have some old schematics from STAR Labs tucked away somewhere. Let me find them and get my gloves and I'll go with you."

Cisco hesitated, looking mildly confused. "…I didn't expect you to be so…helpful."

"I'm not helping you," replied Hartley, finding himself slightly annoyed now, "I want to make Wells pay for what he did. You're giving me another chance at it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm helping snatch his precious Flash from him."

"Right…" Cisco looked more than a little uncomfortable now. "If you get a chance to turn Wells to pudding rather than Barry, I don't think I'd be as angry…"

"Betrayal sucks, doesn't it?" Hartley smirked ever so slightly, standing to go find his blueprints. "Well, Ciscquito, now you know it feels." He turned toward the back room, thinking of where he hid the blueprints again.

"Hartley." Hartley turned back toward Cisco as the scientist spoke rather hesitantly. "I'm sorry. We should have at least listened."

Hartley observed the genuine guilty and apology in Cisco's gaze and nodded his acceptance. It was as good a start as any. "I still haven't agreed to do anything more than get you in there."

Cisco shrugged. "That's good enough for me. The rest is your call."

Hartley headed back to the backroom without another word, trying not to think about the implications of Cisco's appearance on his doorstep. Maybe he would have a chance to right a few wrongs of his own.

* * *

Len felt like he had barely fallen asleep when Wells was suddenly slapping him awake. He swore softly, gritting his teeth to stop the rest of the stream of choice words he had for Wells from escaping. "You know, smelling salts work just as well…"

"It's less satisfying however," said Wells, patting Len's face patronizingly before practically gliding over to Barry's unconscious form, the young speedster now held firmly to the medical table by straps over his arms, torso, legs and forehead. Wells checked the vitals of the young man before grinning. "He's waking up."

Len grimaced, tugging experimentally at his bonds. They were tighter now than the last time, and bit deep into his forearms, avoiding the bandages he found around his wrists. So Wells didn't want him to bleed out after all. How touching… "Neat trick with the gas. How long have you had that prepared?"

"I've had this set up since…well, since Barry first joined the police department really," said Wells, "I knew that there was always a chance Barry might discover my secret. I had to be prepared. Once he knew, I could never let him go."

"You know, if you could hear yourself right now, you'd understand why I think you're one crazy son of a bitch," said Len carefully.

"Crazy? No. Desperate?" Wells shrugged. "Maybe I am. But I didn't spend fifteen years planning all of this for nothing."

"You need a better hobby," commented Len.

"Says the man who became just as obsessed with Barry as I was," monotoned Wells.

Len grimaced and Wells smirked. "Touché," Len replied, "But at least I wasn't the one stalking him for most of his life."

"A small price to pay for keeping him alive," replied Wells, "You wouldn't believe how many times I've intervened before to ensure his continued existence. Without his knowledge of course."

"Of course." Len tried to hide his scowl, but failed entirely. "You didn't want to lose Barry before he was ready for whatever madcap scheme of yours.

"Precisely, though it's not as mad as you think it to be."

"Do tell," said Len sarcastically.

Wells smiled, shaking his head in amusement. "Not yet. We have other matters to attend to first." Well's gaze drifted back toward Barry and Len's eyes followed. "Namely, making sure that both you and Barry are quite aware of my intolerance for disobedience and escape attempts."

"Barry had nothing to do with it," snapped Len, knowing immediately that it was both stupid and pointless to confess the truth to Wells.

"I'm aware," replied Wells coolly, strolling over to a table full of surgical instruments, looking at them pensively for a moment before smirking and meeting Len's gaze. "I'd say we've waited long enough for Barry to join us…"

Wells quickly flitted over to the other side of Barry's table, removing a small capsule from his pocket and breaking it under Barry's nose. Almost instantly, the young man woke with a start and began struggling to get free as he discovered his predicament. Despite this, Len had to suppress a growl. Of course, Wells had had smelling salts. He just didn't want to use them on Len. Fantastic.

"Good morning, Barry. Feeling better?" Wells smiled down at Barry whose expression hardened as his eyes filled with rage. "I thought so…"

"What the Hell do you want with me?!" Barry snapped, straining desperately at the straps that held him down. He cast a brief glance toward Len, a brief look of concern crossing his face before his gaze returned to Wells and hardened again. "What do you want with us?"

"Mr. Snart is here to ensure your cooperation. Besides that, he's nothing."

"Let him go," demanded Barry.

"No." Wells shrugged, unperturbed. "I'm not an idiot, Barry. I need you to do exactly what I ask of you and we both know you'll never do anything willingly for me unless I have something to hold over you. And I know you'd do anything to save a life. Even the life of one of your…enemies."

"Except if it were you, I'm sure he'd be all too happy to let you die," Len commented. He saw Wells' mouth twitch in irritation for a brief moment. It was the only warning he got before Wells had suddenly grabbed his right thumb and pressed down hard. There was a sickening crack and Len's world dissolved into pain.


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: HOLY SHIT THIS DID NOT WANT TO GET WRITTEN! Honest to goodness, I had about 3/5 of this written back in April and then, as my AP US History teacher used to say, fit hit the shan. Between school, having to start on my thesis and my muse deciding to take a vacation, I couldn't get any of this to work until just a few days ago. I cannot apologize enough for the wait for this, but hopefully now that I have my muse working again, I can get back to this story again and a few others.**_

_**Anyhow, sorry for venting. Here goes nothing! Enjoy!**_

_**-BG **_

_**P.S. As per the usual, thank you to everyone who had read, reviewed, followed and/or favorited this story. Honestly, I don't know where this story would be without you. The comments especially give this a little more life**_

**_P.P.S. Let me know what you think of this chapter either via comments or by PMing me. I am concerned that I should have upgraded this story from a T to an M rating. I may have gone a bit darker with this chapter. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!_**

* * *

Len failed entirely to muffle the cry of pain that slipped out of his mouth as Wells suddenly broke the first bone in his right thumb, the crack still ringing through the lab as Barry let out a yell of alarm, redoubling his efforts to get free.

Wells met Len's gaze as he glared up at the psychotic speedster and Len tensed. He knew exactly what was coming next as Wells adjusted his grip, breaking the next bone and eliciting an even louder cry of pain from Len despite his clenched teeth.

"Stop it! Leave him alone!" Barry's voice cracked and Len tried not to look at him, knowing what kind of desperate look the young man would be giving him.

"No," said Wells, "I won't. I told Mr. Snart if he attempted an escape I would put a stop to it. And now I'm going to." A twisted smirk made it across Dr. Wells' face and Len felt the pit of fear in his stomach growing. "Were you aware that the human hand has 27 bones?"

"No—!" Barry barely had the word out before Wells had broken the last bone in Len's thumb, a barely stifled yelp escaping from the criminal. Len's vision blurred for a moment, feeling himself slipping toward the painless oblivion of unconsciousness. "I said stop it!"

"And why should I?" snapped Wells, "Because you asked? Because you want to take the punishment yourself rather than be forced to watch pain inflicted upon someone else? I've known you too long, Barry, to think that breaking you involves only you. After all this time, you've never changed. The way to break you has always been to break others. To destroy the people you care about and leave you helpless to protect them."

"Why? Why do you want so badly to break me? What did I ever do to you? I didn't even know you until you killed my mother!" Barry strained desperately to get free again, his eyes catching Len's finally. God, he looked desperate... The kid seemed at a loss for what to say next and Len gave him the smallest of nods. He knew exactly what Barry was try to do. He was trying to distract Wells from him. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to work. Wells wouldn't look away from Len no matter how hard Barry tried to garner his attention.

"You didn't know me, Barry. Not then. Not yet. But I've known you for so much longer than that. Long enough to know how much a thorn in my side you're going to be. I know exactly what makes you tick. And what makes you break."

Wells grasped Len's index finger and the thief had all of a millisecond to prepare himself as Wells broke the first bone in this finger, Len coming within inches of blacking out this time. A quick slap to his face yanked him back from oblivion and Wells chuckled darkly as Len glared at him. He had to look so pathetic right now… "Now, now, Mr. Snart. No passing out on us. We still have 23 bones to go and I want you awake for every second of this."

"Wells, stop! Please! We get the idea! No escape attempts or you start breaking us apart. Just let him alone!" Barry yelled, "You don't have to do this."

Wells turned his gaze toward Barry at this statement, allowing Len a short reprieve. If Barry could distract Wells long enough, maybe he could finally pass out and end this pain. "…since you seem so desperate to protect your…nemesis, Barry, how about I give you to choice on what his punishment is? Because he is going to be punished, no matter what you say or however much you try to delay me."

Wells was gone and back in the blink of an eye and Len immediately roused as something cold pressed up against his hand, a chill running up his spine. The twisted doctor now had the Cold Gun held to Len's hand, the weapon warmed up and ready to fire. "Now, Barry, you have two choices. Either you allow me to continue breaking the rest of the bones in Mr. Snart's hand, or I freeze his hand solid, something I doubt he could recover from unlike you." Wells kept his gaze firmly on Barry who could only stare, remaining silent and still. "If you don't answer me quickly, Barry, then I'll make sure it's both hands rather than just the one."

"Barry," started Len, "Don't listen—"

Wells clamped his free hand tightly over Len's mouth, stifling the rest of his words. "No, Barry. You listen to me."

Barry met Len's gaze, swallowing hard. Unfortunately, Len knew the choice the kid was going to make and sadly, he agreed with the choice. "…option one."

"Which option, Barry?" said Wells, his tone almost sickly sweet, "I want to hear you say exactly what you want me to keep doing…"

Barry swallowed again, his gaze dropping as Len saw a look of utter defeat cross the kid's face. "…continue breaking the rest of the bones in his hand…"

"Better," said Wells, removing his hand from Len's mouth and lowering the Cold Gun, "Now order me to do it."

Barry's eyes shot up in alarm and Len felt a swell of untempered rage toward Wells who was smirking ominously at Barry. There was only one way to stop Wells from being the victor here. "Barry. Just do it."

Barry's eyes met Len's in an instant and the thief saw the torment in the kid's eyes. Honestly, he didn't want this to happen either.

"Just do it, Barry. It's not like we have a better option available right now." Len took a deep breath. "I can handle this."

Wells chuckled. "Oh I don't think so, Mr. Snart. Considering what your father put you through… This is going to be far, far worse."

Len wanted to snark back at Wells, but couldn't find the energy, keeping his gaze on Barry. "Barry, do it."

Barry gave Len one last agonized look before turning away and focusing his gaze on the ceiling, his eyes pricking with tears as he swallowed hard. "…continue breaking the rest of the bones in his hand."

"Louder!" snapped Wells.

A dark, disgusted look passed across Barry's face and his hands clenched into fists. "Continue. Breaking. The rest of the bones. In his hand." He glared at Wells. "Happy?"

"Very." Wells' twisted grin made Len feel sick to his stomach, especially as the dark speedster took a step toward Barry. "Except, one small thing…"

Len let out a quick yell of alarm as Wells suddenly appeared near Barry, grabbing the young speedster's head and forcibly turning it to face Len. Wells tightened the band across Barry's forehead, fixing it place despite the young man's valiant yet futile struggles.

"I want you to watch this, Barry. I want you to see exactly what I am doing to him. If I see you shut your eyes for longer than ten seconds, I will start cutting his fingers off, understood?" Hissed Wells into Barry's ear.

"Please… Just stop this," begged Barry, glaring straight at Wells despite his predicament, "You don't have to do this. We got the message."

"That's mostly true," said Wells, his tone chilling Len to the bone. Or was that the shock setting in? "I don't have to do this anymore and I'm certain you both got my message." Wells looked back toward Len, a despicable smirk on his lips. "But the fact is that I _want _to do this. And no amount of pleading and bargaining on your part is going to change that. So…"

Wells was gone and back in the blink of an eye and Barry suddenly had a cloth stuffed into his mouth, muffling his scream of protest. "Just sit tight. And enjoy the view."

Len tensed as Wells made his way over, walking this time rather than flitting about. Wells was relishing this opportunity to hurt them both and all Len could do was sit here and take it. Just like he used to. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do to change that.

"Now," said Wells, practically purring with perverse pleasure as he loomed once more over Len, "Where were we?"

Len merely swallowed and closed his eyes, steeling himself for what came next. He didn't have to wait long before his world was once more consumed by pain and darkness.

* * *

Hartley wasn't surprised that Cisco had driven them to the police station, but he was surprised when he pulled their car into one of the lower level garages rather than to the parking lot. As they entered, he spotted Caitlin as well as a man and a woman. He instantly recognized the man as Mick Rory, Leonard Snart's partner in crime and one of the original people who had kidnapped the Flash. The woman however…the woman was new.

Caitlin noticed their arrival and immediately walked over toward them, clearly shocked to see Hartley. "Cisco, how did you…?"

"Felicity helped me find him. It's a long story. Hartley's here to help though." Cisco glanced toward Hartley, giving him a nod of affirmation and…was that trust? It was crazy how much things had changed over the span of just a couple of hours.

"I'm here to stop Wells," said Hartley, "I'll help you get in, but after that, I haven't decided."

"And if we need your help anyway?" The woman strolled over, looking deadly serious and decidedly annoyed.

"Then you'd better ask nicely," replied Hartley, "I'm only in this to screw over Wells."

"And I'm in this to get my brother back." The woman crossed her arms, fixing Hartley with a glare, "And if you get in the way of that happening, you're going to wish you were dead."

Hartley looked the woman up and down, immediately piecing together who she was. "Snart's sister, are you?" The woman gave him a look. "Well, if it means anything, I don't plan to screw you over. But I'm in this for me. Not the Flash. Not your brother. Me."

"Careful, Hartley. You might actually convince them that you're heartless."

Hartley froze at the familiar voice, turning to see Ronnie Raymond had entered the room, Professor Stein not far behind him, both eventually stopping right in front of Hartley. "…Raymond."

"Rathaway," replied Ronnie. He suddenly stuck out his hand and Hartley found himself shaking it on instinct. "I wanted to thank you."

Hartley hesitated. "For what?"

"For telling Cisco about what had happened to us." Hartley swallowed. "I know you used it as a sort of bargaining chip to get Cisco to let you out, but I'm still grateful."

"We're both grateful," corrected the professor, reaching out to shake Hartley's hand himself, "You saved our lives."

Hartley merely nodded, finding himself oddly emotional about the whole affair. He forced himself to keep a straight face. Now wasn't the time for sentimentality. He turned to Ronnie. "My pleasure. So they called you in to help them get in too, right?"

Ronnie nodded in reply. "Well, two heads are better than one. I think between the two of us, we'll manage to find a way to get in."

"You must be the two we've been waiting for," interjected Lisa.

"Took you long enough," added Rory.

"Well, let's just say it was a long flight," replied Stein.

Ronnie grinned ever so slightly at Stein's comment, but only for a moment as a look crossed his face and he fixed Mick Rory with a dark glare. "So you're the one that kidnapped Cait and threatened to burn her…"

Rory straightened up, meeting Ronnie's gaze and trying to look tough despite his broken arm. "Yeah. What's it to you?"

A not-so-nice smile crossed Ronnie face and Hartley could only stare as the engineer suddenly decked Rory with a right cross, sending the man stumbling. "Touch my fiancée again, and I'll be the one lighting your ass on fire."

"Ronald, perhaps we can deal with this another time." Stein put a hand on the younger man and the tension seemed to immediately ease out of Ronnie's shoulders. "You know, sometime after we've handled the situation with Dr. Wells."

"Agreed," said Lisa, "But if you punch Mick again…"

"Lady, I don't plan on it. I think one punch was enough of a message," replied Ronnie.

Mick Rory turned back to them, rubbing his jaw. "Yeah… I got it. Nice punch."

Ronnie smirked at this. "Thanks."

Hartley rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "Now that we've all gotten that out of the way, can we please get to work now? I'm pretty sure we all want to get this done sooner rather than later."

"Agreed," said Ronnie. He turned to his fiancée. "Cait, do we have somewhere we can look at blueprints?" He nodded toward the pile that was in Hartley's bag.

"I'll talked to the Captain and see about getting us a table or something down here," replied Caitlin, "Cisco, you should come with. You'll probably want to let the Captain, Joe and Oliver know that you're back and they don't need to set up a rescue party for you too."

"Right. I'll join you," said Cisco. He sent Hartley a quick nod before following Caitlin up the stairs and out of the garage space, leaving an awkward silence in their wake.

Hartley sighed and took a seat on a mechanic's bench. Well, he was here. That was the easy part. Not unlike Dante in _The_ _Inferno_, they were all in Limbo right now, waiting and planning their decent into Hell without any expectation of what they would find once they got there. He fiddled with his gloves, trying not to think about what was to come. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what they would find in that first circle of Hell…

* * *

Henry watched as Dr. Snow returned from the garage with a young man who, if he recalled Barry's description of his friend, could only be Cisco Ramon. The duo headed straight over to the Captain and Mr. Queen, the two gentlemen having convened in the Captain's office. From Joe's desk, he'd watched as the station settled into a state of managed chaos, the flurry of officers running about having died down to a crawl, but the station still in red alert status. Most of the officers had gone home already and their replacements were already out on patrol, but the bullpen had remained a very stagnant state of still tension.

Henry glanced at the clock on the wall. It was late. Normally, he would have been in his cell, half-asleep or reading, whichever one caught him first. If it was a good book, he'd be up for another hour longer before sleep would over take him. Sleep was boring when it was one of only six things you could do a day. Well, more like seven or eight, but Henry wasn't one to go into that much detail. Despite the sudden change in his situation and the fifteen years in prison, there was little chance that he would even sleep a wink were he given the chance. And he had been given such a chance, Joe having asked if he wanted to come back to the house for some shut eye. Henry had politely declined and despite some pressuring by Iris and Detective Thawne, he had managed to convince them to leave him at the station.

Realizing that he was out of range to heard what was being said to the Captain and Mr. Queen, Henry stood stiffly and walked over, trying to catch snippets of the conversation as he approached. The conversation however halted the moment they spotted him. "…so what's going on?"

"Nothing much at the moment," said the Captain, "Mr. Ramon here just returned from retrieving a former engineer of STAR Labs while Dr. Snow has informed me that her fiancé and his…counterpart have arrived."

Henry frowned. "Counterpart?"

"Dr. Martin Stein," replied Dr. Snow, "He and Ronnie were accidentally fused together during the particle accelerator explosion. We were able to separate them about a month ago and now they can combine at will into a metahuman called Firestorm."

Henry nodded in understanding. Well, with at least as much understanding as he could. "So what's the next step?"

"Mr. Raymond and Mr. Rathaway need to go over the blueprints to the lab and see if there are any discernible weak points," replied the Captain. He turned to Dr. Snow. "Have them both come up here. I can set them up in the conference room."

The young doctor nodded and left with her colleague, but not before shooting Henry a sympathetic look. He had a feeling he'd be getting a lot of those.

"Is there anything that I can do?" asked Henry. The Captain hesitated. "Look, I know I've been in prison for a long time and my medical license hasn't been renewed in a long time and I'm certainly no vigilante or metahuman, but there has to be something I can do to help instead of just sitting here waiting for something to happen."

"How much do you knew about what's been happening?" asked Mr. Queen.

"I know Barry's been running around the city and trying to save the world and apparently the man who I thought was helping him stay safe was actually the man who put him in danger in the first place." Henry looked Queen in the eye. "I know that he trusts you and considers you a good friend. I think you're dangerous, but under the current circumstances, I could care less. And I know you'll do whatever it takes to help Barry. That's enough for me."

Mr. Queen nodded carefully. "You're right. I will do whatever I can to help get Barry back safely. But at the same time, I need to make sure that we're not having to worry about keeping you safe at the same time. If Wells sees you're a free man, he's going to do whatever it takes to use you against Barry."

Henry shrugged, trying not to feel slightly insulted. "Mr. Queen, I know I'm not a warrior, but I need to do something to help get my son back besides sit here on my laurels hoping he returns in one piece. Even if its sharpening arrowheads or helping to search for a way to get inside STAR Labs, I'm here. Use me."

Queen opened his mouth to reply only for the Captain to put a hand on his arm, stopping him. "Maybe we can use your help, Dr. Allen. Between helping the engineers with the maps and Dr. Snow with our patient downstairs, I'm sure we can find something for you to do."

Henry let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

"I know," said the Captain, "Believe me." He gestured toward the stairs. "Please follow me. We'll see what we can do."

Henry nodded, following the Captain down towards the basement. The former doctor glanced back to see Mr. Queen following them, the slightest look of pain set in his features. The man was uncomfortable with this, even though the Captain was. Henry made a note to himself to ask the archer later what had him so bothered. For now, Henry needed to keep himself busy and try not to think about what horrors his son could be facing at the hands of Nora's killer.

* * *

Len moaned softly as his blackened world brightened, slowly coming into focus on a blue padded ceiling. He glanced around, finding himself in an exceedingly small room with three walls lined with the same padding as the ceiling and the fourth a piece of transparent glass. He moved ever so slightly to sit up and immediately regretted it as he put weight on his hand, blacking out once more.

When he came too again, Len sat up carefully, avoiding moving or touching his hand at all. He remembered what had happened in the lab mostly. After his middle finger bones had been broken, he'd passed out for sure or maybe been he'd just gone into shock. Either way, he didn't have a clue where he was.

Len hesitated to look at his hand, knowing how ghastly it had to look. Ever so slowly, he brought it up to his face and immediately wanted to throw up, shutting his eyes quickly to dispel the feeling. His hand was swollen, bruised and clearly in horrible shape. Wells had been right. It was worse than anything his father had ever done to him.

Shifting to sit up against the wall behind him, Len felt his hand brush something beside him. He looked down to find a first aid kit. Well. Wells was indeed full of surprises. Despite his pleasure in torturing Len, he still wanted him alive and largely in one piece. Len tried not to shudder as a thought crossed his mind. Wells still had something planned for him. Something that Len was sure he did not want to find out anytime soon.

Len opened the kit, not at all surprised to see that there were plenty of splints, rolls of medical tape and even a couple of instant cold packs in the mix. As much as Len hated to admit it, Wells was a sadistic asshole, but he was right. He was always one-step ahead on everything.

Pulling out the supplies, Len began slowly fixing himself up. The seconds after he reset the first break, Len knew exactly what Wells hadn't given him. Pain raced through Len's hand, a scream escaping his mouth as he struggled to remain conscious. Son of a bitch… Wells had conveniently left the first aid kit without any painkillers.

Len took a deep breath, glancing skywards before grasping the next break to set. This was going to be rough.

* * *

Oliver watched as Henry talked with Cisco, Caitlin and the other members of Team Flash. They had welcomed Henry's presence with open arms, finding small things for him to help with thus far. As much as Oliver was happy to see this, he felt largely uncomfortable being in the same room as them.

"Mr. Queen." Oliver turned to see Captain Singh enter the room again, having led Mr. Rathaway and Mr. Raymond up to the conference room to work on the blueprints. "…you're not one for dealing with stuff like this, are you?"

The emerald archer paused, confused by the Captain's comment. "…I'm afraid I don't understand what you're asking."

"Dealing with fathers and their sons," replied Singh, causing Oliver to wince, "…I understand that there was a bit of a discrepancy regarding the death of your father. You said that he died when your boat sunk." Singh eyed Oliver carefully. "Your actions and behavior say differently."

Oliver hesitated, taking in a deep breath. "…I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Despite your consistent string of lies to maintain your secret identity, Mr. Queen," said the Captain, "You are a terrible liar."

Oliver managed a sad smile. "…that's what everyone tells me…"

"Then I'm not wrong when I said that something different happened with your father than what you told the courts and the media."

"No." Oliver dropped his gaze ever so slightly. "You aren't wrong."

Singh remained silent for a moment, the only sound in the garage being that of the conversation between Cisco and Henry regarding a particular film series. He was clearly choosing his next words carefully. "Your father did something to save your life, didn't he? Something that cost him his own?"

Oliver merely nodded. He had to admit that the Captain was good. "…and?"

"And as a result, you want to make sure that Dr. Allen doesn't put himself in a similar position as your father by keeping him out of all of this." Oliver managed a minute shrug at the Captain's observation. "Would you rather that you left Dr. Allen out of this and he decided to go off on his own and endanger himself otherwise?"

"No." Oliver swallowed. "…so that's why you're letting Barry's dad help? To keep him safe?"

"More or less." Singh let out a long sigh. "I've seen too many fathers lose their children. Dr. Allen already lost his wife and almost fifteen years of his life to the same monster that has his son. If I can help him in any way, no matter how small, I'm going to do it."

Oliver didn't reply. He didn't have to. Captain Singh's reasoning made perfect sense. It also answered a question that had been lingering in his mind. "…I need to go make a call. Thank you. For helping."

Singh nodded, waving him off. "Go. We'll be here when you're done."

Oliver nodded, casting one more glance at Henry before heading upstairs. He needed to have a talk with Felicity about something.

* * *

Sitting on the edge of the examining table, Barry massaged his arms where they had been rubbed raw, the friction burns healing terribly slow due to his lack of speed. He didn't dare look at Dr. Wells who stood off to the side, watching him. After Wells had left Snart in a cell downstairs, he'd returned and released Barry with the warning that if he caused any trouble or tried to escaped, Snart would be the one to suffer the consequences. Needless to say, Barry wasn't willing to test Wells' word after what he'd just had to watch.

"I expected more bravado from you, Mr. Allen," said Wells suddenly, causing Barry to flinch, "After the events at the farmhouse I guess I expected…more."

Barry clenched his teeth, holding back the retort that he so desperately wanted to unleash on his former mentor. He had to keep his head about him for Snart's sake as well as his own.

"I'm waiting, _Flash_." Wells' tone was impatient and venomous, prompting Barry turn around and give the murderer a distasteful look. "You don't have anything to say to me?"

Barry took a deep breath. He had a billion things he wanted to say to Wells, but nothing seemed to want to come out. Except the only question he'd ever wanted answered. "…why did you kill my mother?"

Wells let out an almost bored sigh. "Of course you would ask that first. Of all the questions in the universe, you would want the answer to your life's greatest mystery." He paused, contemplating something. "Actually, the answer to your second greatest mystery really."

"And my first was?" asked Barry, exasperated.

"The answer to who was under the mask of your mother's killer. Me." Wells gave Barry an almost pleased smirk.

"Yeah, well, I know that now," hissed Barry. Exactly what did Wells want him to say? Something that would get either Snart or himself killed?"

"Yes. And no." Barry narrowed his eyes at Wells and the villain grinned. "I'm not Harrison Wells."

Barry tensed. "...what?"

"I. Am not Harrison Wells." Wells, or whoever the man was, walked toward Barry, stopping in front of the young speedster. "Harrison Wells was simply a mask I put on to set my plans in motion."

"Then…" Barry shuddered inwardly. The mere thought that the scientist he had always admired had been one who had killed his mother was unbearable. "Harrison Wells never existed…"

"Oh no." Barry looked up at the man sharply. "Harrison Wells existed. I simply took his place in the universe."

"You're saying that you killed Harrison Wells," said Barry warily.

"Yes. I am." The man shrugged. "His death, however, was necessary to make things right after I tried to kill you."

The moment the words were out of the man's mouth, Barry scrambled off the table, his heart hammering in his chest, pulsing with fear. "What?!"

"You see, Barry, I wasn't there to kill your mother." The man stepped toward Barry and Barry took a quick step back. "I was there to kill you. To end you before you could become a greater Flash than you are today. Except you, the future you, managed to snatch you away before I could follow through with my intentions. After that, with you gone, I went for the next best choice. If I had to destroy the Flash before he could exist, I had to take something precious from him. So I killed your mother instead, destroying your future. Until I realized that in doing so, I had destroyed my own as well."

Barry tried to process what the madman before him was saying, every fiber of his being screaming to run even though he knew he didn't stand a chance. "What are you saying?"

The man gave Barry a disapproving look, as if Barry should have picked up on something by now. "What I'm saying, Barry, is that I won't be born for another one hundred and thirty six years."

Barry hesitated. "You're lying. That's impossible."

"Is it, Barry?" The man met Barry's gaze. "We both know time travel is possible. What happened in your house fifteen years ago proves that. And I should know. I was there after all."

Barry stood stock still even as the man began to circle him, the young speedster lost in his thoughts. It had always been like this, hadn't it? Since the day this man had killed his mother, he and Barry had been at the same game. Cat and mouse. Predator and prey. The hunter and the hunted. One always ahead of the other. Ahead, apparently, in more ways than one.

"I can see you have your real question ready, Barry." The man stopped his circling, standing directly behind his prey. "Ask it."

Barry's tongue felt like lead as he tried to speak, his words coming out in a much more defeated tone than he would have hoped. "...if you're not Harrison Wells, who are you?"

Barry sensed rather than saw the menacing yet pleased grin spread across the Reverse Flash's face, the man's emotions seeming to roll off him in waves. "My name is Eobard. Eobard Thawne," stated the man as he placed both of his hands on Barry's shoulders causing the young speedster to wince, "And we…have a lot to discuss…"

* * *

_**A/N: So...yeah. Please let me know what you think!**_


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